Friendly
Disclaimer: I can tell you right now that if I owned Bones, the sex would have been real and Booth wouldn't have gone down the clichéd "I was in a coma then lost my memory!" path. Not that I don't trust Hart Hanson, of course.
Here's my contribution to the endless mountain of post-End in the Beginning fanfiction:
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"You know," she said, opening one of the many white boxes spread across the table. "I never would have assumed that you enjoy Thai food."
He smiled at her. "You've thought about what food I enjoy, Bones? That seems a tad stalkerish."
"No, I have not thought about it," she informed, ignoring the teasing tone in his voice. "You just seem so…" She searched for an appropriate word. "American. Burgers and apple pie."
"Well I do like both those things," he confirmed with a nod, surveying the boxes himself with slight disbelief. "Did you order the whole menu?"
"I wasn't sure what you liked."
"You could've asked…" He finally grabbed the box closest to him and opened that. "Anyway, I believe it or not, I like burgers and Thai food. My taste buds are easily satisfied."
Brennan was confused. "Taste buds are not living creatures, Agent Booth. They cannot feel satisfaction, or any other emotion, for that matter."
"I didn't mean it literally, Bones. I was just trying to say that I'm not picky…" Her blank expression remained, and he shook his head, deciding that explanation was pointless and switching topics. "Agent Booth? Isn't that a bit… formal?"
"Professional," she corrected.
"But we're partners now! We should be friendly. 'Agent Booth' doesn't sound very friendly."
"What does then?" She was obviously skeptical of him.
"You should call me…" He grinned. "Booth."
"Your last name? That's what you consider friendly?"
"Yep."
"So…" She struggled to follow his train of thought. "You would call me Brennan?"
"Of course not! I'd call you Bones, obviously."
She narrowed her eyes. "I very much dislike it when you call me that, Ag—"She stopped. "Booth."
"Oh, I know."
"How is calling me a name I dislike friendly?"
"Nicknames are very friendly. They're affectionate." A slow smile spread across Brennan's face at his words, and he found himself staring at her. He couldn't recall a single time he had seen her like that. "What?"
"With that logic, you calling me Bones implies that you feel affection for me."
"It does, doesn't it?"
"Do you?"
"Well, Bones…" He took a bite from the box he was holding, winced, and closed it. "Don't order that next time, it's gross." Then he searched through the boxes again, ignoring her question.
"Booth. Please answer me. I'm genuinely curious."
He laughed. "Bones, as much as I hate to admit it…" Another grin. "You're starting to grow on me." She opened her mouth to comment, and he stopped her. "Again, not literally. Note to self, no figures of speech for Bones…" After that, they sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"Hey Booth," she finally said. "You said 'next time.'"
"Huh?" he asked, looking up from his food.
"You said 'don't order this next time.' You think we should do this again?"
A week ago, he would have said no. Then again, a week ago, he wouldn't have been there at all. "I'd like that." Then he laughed. "Dinner after cases is very friendly."
"I'm glad to hear it."
His eyes popped open. He had been having dreams like this almost every night for the last month, ones so vivid that they had to be real. Usually, he quickly realized they weren't, like the one that he had awoken to in the hospital before finding out he had forgotten the majority of his life. But this one… This was the first that actually fit the life people had been describing to him. He was an FBI Agent. His partner was… Bones?
He had been calling her Temperance. Sometimes Brennan. Once or twice, he had actually slipped and called her 'Bren,' but he did his best to keep from doing that. No matter what he called her, though, she gave him a pained look, which he had assumed was from the situation in general. But maybe…
"Bones," he said to the air, testing how it felt. "Bones, how are you? Bones, are you okay? Bones."
He sat there for several moments, repeatedly saying the word, feeling ridiculous. He didn't know for sure if the dream was even real, let alone if she actually had any desire to be called that. In the dream, she had told him off for it… He sighed, rubbing his temples. This could be a good thing. This could be him beginning to piece his life back together. He had to be sure, right?
Brennan had handed him a number, told him to 'call any time.' He figured that 'any time' included—he glanced at the alarm clock on the table at his bedside—12:05. When he found his phone, he slowly typed in the numbers, staring at the paper with all his concentration. He should remember this number. Shouldn't he?
The voice that met him on the other end of the line was groggy. He felt bad for waking her up. "Brennan."
"Hey."
A pause.
"Booth?" She was definitely more awake now. "Is something wrong?"
He didn't like how worried she sounded at all. "No. I… I think I remembered something."
"That's great." He could hear the faint sound of running water. Her making coffee? "What did you remember?"
"Uh…" Booth felt stupid. He had woken her up in the middle of the night to tell her that he may or may not have remembered a nickname that he may or may not have called her at the beginning of their partnership. "You."
"Me?" she asked, surprised. "Something… specific about me?"
She sounded so hopeful, and she was going to be disappointed. He could barely remember her, but the thought of hurting her at all killed him. "It's… stupid. I'm sorry, Bones."
"What did you just say?" Her voice had taken a tone of urgency. "Booth? What did you just say?" she repeated.
"I'm sorry?"
"No. What did you call me?"
He winced. He hadn't meant to say that. "Bones. I called you Bones. That's… what I remembered. Or maybe I made it up in my head. Maybe I'm delusional in addition to having no memory! And—"
"I'm on my way over," she cut him off.
"You're…"
"Walking out my door. Is your spare key in the same place?"
"Um…" He had no idea what she was talking about. "I would… guess so?"
She continued on as if he hadn't spoken. "Of course you don't remember. It probably is. You should move that."
"Bo—Temp— Bren—"He was confused. "You sound… crazy. Are you always like this at night?"
Again, she ignored him. "I'll be there in a few minutes. It's a short drive."
He tried to answer, but she had already hung up. The entire conversation played through his mind again, and he couldn't figure out what he had said that had triggered that response. When he was about to go through it for a third time, the front door opened, revealing Brennan.
She was still in the clothes she had obviously been sleeping in, and she hadn't brushed her hair, only thrown it up in a ponytail. He could only stare at her.
"On the way over here, I recognized that I acted in a very irrational, and, as you put it, crazy manner," she said, very seriously.
He laughed. "It's okay…" He trailed off, and then addressed her questioningly. "Bones?"
"Yes. Bones." She shifted her weight from foot to foot awkwardly. "Did you remember anything else?"
"Thai food. I remember Thai food. Bones and Thai food."
"You like Thai food," she informed him.
"Yeah… You know, now I could really go for some."
She shook her head amusedly. "Booth… always thinking of his stomach."
"Am I?" he asked. Brennan looked up, surprised. "I can't remember what I'm always thinking about. I can't remember what I like to do when I'm bored. I can't remember you, Bones! You, who was sitting at my bedside when I woke up from a four day coma. Who ran over here at midnight because I remembered something as small as a nickname!"
"It's not small," she muttered.
"Comparatively, it—"That's when he noticed her violently wipe at one eye. "Are you crying?"
"No!" she answered, much too quickly, much too defensively.
"Bones…"
She lifted her head to meet his gaze, and, sure enough, her eyes were cloudy with unshed tears. "Crying would be… ridiculous and pointless. It wouldn't change anything. And it's not as if you've done something to purposely harm me in anyway."
"I would never." He didn't need memories to know that.
"I know that." She bit her bottom lip. "I know that, if you had any control over the situation, you would make yourself remember me. I know that." She nodded, trying to convince herself as much as she was Booth. "You would."
"I would."
As they stood there, the silence saying more than their words ever could, he had the overwhelming urge to touch her. Just brush a lock of hair behind her ear, or hold her hand.
"What sparked this memory?" she asked. "Was it an object? A word? Perhaps this can help you get the rest of your memory back faster…" She trailed off.
"It was a dream."
She nodded, and he found himself thinking that Bones shouldn't look like that. He stepped forward, placing a hand on the small of her back.
"What are you doing?"
Booth smiled. "I was planning on giving you a hug. Is that okay?"
He didn't wait for an answer before pulling her to him, but the small laugh that it caused her encouraged him. She shifted so that she was closer to his chest and closed her eyes.
"I've missed you," she muttered, so quietly that Booth wasn't even positive that was what she said. In response, he rubbed her back slowly.
When he hugged her, he felt more like himself than he had since he had woken up. This was right, he realized. He was supposed to be hugging his Bones. He turned his head to tell her this, catching the scent of her hair in the process. He heard his own voice which, like the dream, was so clear it had to be real.
"It's a guy hug. Take it."
He flashed back to his dream where he jokingly told her that partners were friendly, and hundreds of images and thoughts seem to appear in his mind at once. Staring at her, making her laugh, eating lunch with her, all the while knowing that "friendly" was all he was ever allowed to have.
His hand momentarily paused on her back. "Bones?"
Her eyes opened. "Yes?"
"I'm glad I remember you."
Brennan smiled. "I'm glad you do too," she said, taking a small step away and breaking the hug. "So glad."
The cold when she stepped away was almost painful, and for a moment, he wished he had been allowed to permanently forget this part.
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Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading!