BONES, ONE SHOT, XMAS EP, MISSING SCENE, COMPLETE
"You know, Bones, I was pretty surprised tonight."
Brennan's eyebrows shot up and Booth knew his mouth had once again gotten ahead of his brain.
"I…I mean that the meal was just so great!"
But that didn't exactly fix her sudden annoyance, either. Now he was getting the patented cold stare.
"Geez, Bones, I just meant that I didn't know you had anything better in your arsenal than your mac 'n cheese," he tried to amend.
Now she simply turned away from him and continued washing the dinner plates.
Booth, exasperated, threw down the dishtowel he had been using to dry the clean dishes and grabbed her by the shoulders to face him. This earned him a surprised, if not slightly incredulous, glare.
"Bones," he plead. "I'm just trying to say that tonight went really well. You did good."
After letting him agonize for a few more seconds, Brennan's façade finally cracked and she smirked. Booth, now confused, dropped his hands where they had been gripping her shoulders.
"Booth," she mocked. "Thank you," she finally smiled. As he returned it, they resumed their work.
A few minutes later, Booth was drying the last plate and Brennan was taking a sip from her wine glass, leaning against the counter next to him. Margaret strolled into the kitchen just then to refill her own glass. She noted the partners' close proximity, but decided not to comment. Instead, she pointed to the ceiling above their heads and simply said, "Mistletoe," before heading back to the guest room.
Shocked, the partners' heads tilted up. Brennan felt her face grow warm and all but growled, "Angela."
Booth smirked. "What is it with puckish co-workers and their mistletoe?" he joked lightly. Brennan shook her head and took another sip of wine, trying to blame the flush on her cheeks to slight intoxication.
"You know, Bones, an important part of Christmas celebrations are the traditions." A quirk of her eyebrow indicated for him to continue. Booth gently took the wine glass from her hand and set it on the counter behind them. Another half step closed the already small gap between them and he took her now empty hand into his. "Don't you agree?"
"Kissing you under the mistletoe doesn't seem to be such a bad one," she commented with a sly grin.
The admission was all the two needed. Simultaneously, they leaned closer and allowed their lips to gently brush. Brennan's free hand found its way to the back of Booth's neck, pulling him closer. Deepening the kiss, Booth wrapped an arm around her slender waist. The partners had all but lost themselves in the moment when Booth's phone rang from his back pocket.
Quickly disentangling themselves and taking a step back, Booth reached into his pocket to grab the offending piece of technology. Phone now in hand, he leaned in and pecked Brennan on the lips again.
"Merry Christmas, Bones," he said with a sweet smile. Flipping the phone open and putting it to his ear, he answered gruffly, "Booth."
Turning back to the sink to rinse her glass, Brennan smiled to herself. She now firmly believed in keeping up with this particular tradition. Maybe the mistletoe wouldn't always be a required factor.