Booth and Brennan sat companionably in her lounge. They chatted the night away. "Booth, it's midnight," Brennan said, glancing at her clock. "I hadn't realised how late it was."
"Yeah Bones," he nodded his agreement. "Guess I'd better get going."
Brennan got up and looked out her window. "You can't drive in that. Have you seen how hard it's raining outside?" Booth was confused. It never mattered to him how bad the weather was when he was driving. It usually didn't bother her either.
Booth got up and came to stand beside her. " I see what you mean. I'm gonna need Noah's Ark to get home. Oh well, just need to make the SUV into a raft."
"Why don't you just stay here?" Brennan said, turning round to face her partner. "I can make up the sofa for you. I've got spare pillows and a blanket, if you want."
Booth got the feeling she wasn't asking for him but for herself. "Ok Bones, thanks."
She placed a hand on his upper arm before she padded across to the linen cupboard. He stepped away from the window and moved across to the couch.
Brennan brought him a pillow and a heavy duvet. She flung the pillow onto the couch and laid the duvet properly out for him. "Got a spare toothbrush Bones?" he asked her, fluffing up the pillow.
"Yeah sure, the bathroom's this way," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him up the hall. "It's the first on the right. I'll go find you that toothbrush."
He wandered into the bathroom and kicked off his shoes before pulling off his trousers and socks.
"Here ya go Booth," Brennan said, entering the room and handing over the extra toothbrush. She was giving him the once-over with her eyes. "I'm gonna go get ready for bed and then it's my turn in here." She began to turn away.
He shot her an appreciative smile. " Thanks Bones. And then you're gonna tuck me into bed?" Booth tried for a cheeky grin.
"In a sense," she replied before leaving. Booth got the feeling he had missed something between them. But now he was starting to get it. Was she interested in him? He knew, in his heart, that he would do anything for her and he would be seriously happy if she was interested in being a couple.
He brushed his teeth and then gathered up his discarded clothes before heading back to his make-shift bed.
He heard the bathroom light being flicked on and the sound of rapid bristles on teeth floated to his ears. Brennan came out to see him.
"You alright?" she asked, as he rolled onto his side to see her. She went to the window and looked outside. He could see from the small lamp in the room that she wore shorts and t-shirt. The rain continued to fall heavily outside.
"I'm fine Bones. Very comfy here to be honest," he smiled in the low light at her. She went to his side and clicked the light off.
"Night," he said quietly, shifting to get into a suitable position to sleep.
"Night Booth," she whispered, taking a chance. She ran her hand through his soft hair.
Booth eyes snapped open to look at her. She just offered him a smile before heading to go to her own room. Once in her bed, complicated thoughts chased each other around her head. Something had changed inside her. Or more importantly, something had changed inside her regarding her feelings towards Booth.
Brennan doubted she would ever understand this. Booth was her protector and friend. She'd never known anyone who would go to such lengths for her before. She knew she couldn't let him go now. He had to stay with her, she relied on him.
Why such irrational thoughts were springing up in her mind, she didn't know. He wasn't leaving her. But she did know that her feelings had contributed in asking him to stay here tonight, rather than just the bad weather.
Booth's thoughts were whirling around in his mind too. Every second he spent with Bones, he knew he was slowly losing his heart bit by bit to her. His fingertips constantly itched to reach out and touch her. But he wasn't so sure that was such a wise decision on his part.
But then, the signals she was sending out were hard to fight. She was almost waging war on his heart. Crash banging her way right into his soul. All the other guys he knew, they weren't afraid to fall in love. They wanted to find their soul mate and settle down.
But he was scared. He'd let Rebecca in before and she had broke his heart, big time. He didn't think he could handle it twice over, especially with Brennan. She'd got under his skin and like a disease, she was hard to shake off.
While both partners lay musing, a sudden crash brought them to their senses. The thunder rumbled loudly from a distance.
Brennan rose from her bed to her feet. She loved thunderstorms. She was going to get a glass of water and then return to her bed to watch the show.
She quietly opened her door and made her way through the living room to the kitchen. Booth was a heavy sleeper so she doubted he would be awake. She began to run the tap and fill a glass. Brennan nearly shot ten foot in the air when Booth quietly asked, "You ok Bones?"
"Yeah I'm fine Booth. Sorry I woke you," she spoke into the dark and moved across to where Booth lay.
"Wasn't you. Was the thunder startled me. I wasn't really asleep at all," he said, looking at her when she moved to her window for the third time that night.
"Oh?" she sounded, surprised. But as Booth said nothing, she decided to say, "I love storms."
"Me too," Booth smiled. Brennan clutched her glass of water to her chest and began to head back to her room. Puzzled, Booth asked, "Where ya going Bones?"
"Going back to my room, so I can watch the storm from my bed," she answered, looking back at him. Where did he think she was going? Clubbing?
"The window in your room is tiny. I should know, I've seen it. You'd be better watching it from this one," Booth commented.
"Yeah, but you're lying on the couch. And I don't want to disturb you," she sighed, looking at him as he shifted on the couch.
"You're not disturbing me. I enjoy thunderstorms too. Come on, there's plenty of room for the two of us," he replied, throwing back the duvet and patting the space beside him. He brought his feet to the floor but the duvet was so big, it was no problem keeping his feet warm.
She eyed him uncertainly and placed her water on the coffee table. She gently eased herself onto the couch and sat at the opposite end of the sofa from Booth.
Booth laughed. "You don't need to be so nervous of me Temperance. You can't possibly see anything from that end. Sit up here or you're gonna miss the best bits," he motioned for her to come closer.
Brennan realised she was acting stupid. She had asked Booth to stay and yet she was fighting her urges to be close to him. He could be at home, asleep in his own bed. Maybe this was her feelings trying to tell her she couldn't resist Booth, no matter how hard she tried.
She slid up towards Booth and sat very close to him. So close that their knees touched.
Booth watched as Brennan stared at the rain splattering against the window pane. Her eyes were filled with a keen excitement, something Booth enjoyed seeing in his partner.
The pair sat in silence as the thunder growled loudly again. A sudden flash of white light struck close to their apartment. Brennan jumped with fright. Booth slipped his arm round her back and pulled her head onto his shoulder.
She relaxed into his shoulder and watched more lightning strike. Booth reflected in his head. If he thought about it, their relationship was like slow motion. So much better moving at a slow speed. You get a better feel for things. What they had was special and Booth was glad he'd found it in this world. He knew their time to be together would come. At the moment, it was moving steadily like the beat of a clock.
It was like a ticking bomb inside their bodies. One day, it would it explode and everything would be laid bare.
"Booth," she whispered into his ear. " I think enjoy thunderstorms even better with you."
He grinned and turned to her. " I just enjoy spending time with you."
Both the FBI agent and the anthropologist felt this was an opportunity not to be missed. He had been wondering just two seconds ago in which way was their relationship heading. Apparently things were about to pick up a little speed.
She smiled tenderly at him before kissing him lightly on the cheek. Brennan's breath ghosted across his face. Her nose was pressed to the left side of his. He could almost taste her soft lips when he stopped them.
"One step at a time. We don't want to do something we might regret," he whispered hoarsely.
"You're right," she agreed, keeping their noses pressed together and laying her forehead on his. "We'll get there in time."
A/N: My longest one-shot ever. Well I hope you enjoyed it. I love thunderstorms so I decided to do a story about it. The bit towards the end with kiss on the cheek and the almost-kiss was supposed to be very sexually charged and tense. Thanks for reading! As always, a review would be nice but is not necessary.