Title: Used to the Pain
Christmas present for: Krys33
Summary: "Believe me when I say it gets better every day, once you get used to the pain."
Rating: G
Pairings/Characters: Booth/Brennan hurt/comfort
A/N: The song mentioned is Keith Urban's "Used to the Pain" from his new CD.
Used to the Pain
Booth glanced sideways at his partner, taking his eyes only briefly off of the empty interstate down which he was driving. She had been completely silent this entire ride. Though, really, Booth understood. They'd just found out a few rather unsavory things about Brennan's parents' past—which had become quite the sensitive issue for Brennan. She was obviously processing what they'd learned, and finding a way to cope with it.
So Booth understood her silence.
However, because he understood his partner's silence didn't mean that he liked it. After several minutes, he couldn't stand the stillness anymore. He still didn't want to speak, and doubted she did either, so instead he reached out and pressed the button to turn on the radio. The first sound that came out was loud static, and he quickly hit the seek button to find another station. It then settled on a station that was on commercial that, so Booth pushed the button again.
This time, it landed on a station number he wasn't very familiar with, and he waited a minute to hear what kind of music the station played.
"I know it's hard holdin' on," a man with a light yet definitely country voice sang. "Even harder lettin' go. So you're frozen like a stone. But baby, you're not alone."
Country. Though he didn't mind it, Booth wasn't the biggest fan of country music, and at the moment, the sadness of a country song might not be the best thing to hear. He started to hit the seek button again, but Brennan reached out and stopped him. He looked at his partner with wide eyes, surprised.
"Leave it," she said softly, yet sharply. "I like this song."
That surprised him too, but he nodded. "Okay."
Brennan then quietly turned away, leaning against the door and staring silently out the window. Frowning with sympathy, he kept a watch on her out of the corner of his eye as the man on the radio continued to sing.
"Every step I take, I get a little less afraid of giving in to love… Let it out."
Booth turned farther away from his partner a little bit at that line, trying to hide the faint blush that rose to his cheeks. That line actually quite reminded him of his feelings towards a certain forensic anthropologist that he was close to.
"Believe me when I say it gets better everyday, once you get used to the pain."
The weight of that line sank in with him then, and he glanced briefly over at his partner. He saw her lips moving along to the words, hearing only the faintest touch of her voice whispering the words, and something in him broke with sympathy as the line "once you get used to the pain" replayed in his head over and over.
Then he noticed a single tear rolling down her cheek. And he couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled the SUV off the side of the road and shifted it into park.
His partner wiped quickly at her tears with the back of her hand and then looked at him, eyes widened in surprised questioning. But he didn't let her wonder for long, but quickly reached towards her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. She wasted no time in responding, either. She instantly melted against his shoulder, and she sniffled as she tried to hold back the rest of the tears.
They held on to each other in much the same way that they had months ago, when Brennan first found out that her parents were not who she'd thought they were.
The man on the radio continued to sing in the background.
"What you hide inside I see. There's a scar; there's always gonna be. There's a past to everyone. That you can't undo. You can't outrun. Every step I take, I get a little less afraid of giving in to love… Let it out. Believe me when I say it gets better everyday, once you get used to the pain."
Please review!