The Lost Art of Courtship
Fic filling the prompt by chibifukurou on Bite Size Bits of Fic on Livejournal:
Bones, Booth/Zach, Romancing a Squint
It started simple.
On the First of February, there was a cup of coffee waiting for Zack on his desk. Under it there was a note that read 'You looked like you needed a pick me up.' The squint sipped the coffee and went to ask Hodgins and Angela whether either of them was responsible for the coffee. Neither of them was of any help.
On the second day of the month, a vinyl of John Coltrane was waiting for him on the forensic platform. This time the note said 'You look like the Jazz type.' Both Angela and Cam were interested in finding out who was sending Zack these gifts. The squint took the record home and listened to it. His admirer had gotten his taste in music right.
On February 3rd, his gift was wrapped and the squint squad was surrounding it, trying to figure out what was it. Zack opened the box to find the mathematics book he was after for the last month. On the first page there was the same handwriting from the other notes, 'I heard you were looking for this.' Zack smiled and read the book every chance he got. If he wished his crush, the FBI agent known as Seeley Booth, was the admirer, he never told anyone.
It soon became more complex.
On the fourth day of the month, he was already working when the gift was delivered. He read the card ('This was very hard to find. Hopefully it'll make you smile.') He lifted the lid of the rectangular box to find a periodic table made entirely of chocolate. After taking one square (Aluminum) he offered to his friends. Each took one square and Zack put the rest in his office, wondering if Booth would like some chocolate should he stop by today.
On the 5th, the gift was so heartfelt Zack blushed when he saw it. Accompanying the note ('A Zachary Uriah Addy original for the original Zachary Uriah Addy'), there was a framed magazine page. More specifically, a page that contained the first paper the squint published. Zack went to his office and hang it up, all the while smiling.
The 6th was a Sunday. So Zack was surprised when his doorbell rang and Hodgins appeared holding a package. 'Somebody left this at the main house. Your admirer is a very dedicated person.' Inside the box there were two paperback printings of two of Zack's favorite comics, The Vinyl Underground and Hellblazer. The note said 'I won't forget just because it's Sunday. I just hope you didn't already have these issues.' Zack sat on his couch and started enjoying his new present. And if his mind wandered to his crush now and then, that's neither here nor there.
On the 7th, he received a paperweight shaped like a blue police box. The squint squad smiled as they recognized the geeky trinket (well, almost all of them, Brennan was still oblivious to the television as a whole). The note was different. It said 'Seven Days' but it was written in Gallifreyan.
On the 8th, the squint got a model airplane, good enough to rival the ones he made. 'To lift your spirits' was the note.
On the 9th, the gift made Zack blush in embarrassment. His friends were all around him when he opened the box and took out all kinds of flavored condoms, coffee and strawberry lube. There even were a couple of glow-in-the-dark condoms. Angela grabbed the note and read it out loud, making Zack blush even more: 'For us to use from the 14th onwards.' If the squint's mind produced images of him and Booth putting these gifts to use, well, who can blame him?
On the tenth, the squint got a chemistry set and a note that read 'I hope you'll like this one.'
On the eleventh, the gift was a photo with everyone of the squint squad and Booth too. They were all at a bar, celebrating that they'd caught the killer of the day. The note was 'You should smile more.'
On the twelfth, Zack received a mix tape. 'I couldn't think of anything else, sorry.' It had all kinds of love songs from 'Way Back Into Love' from Music & Lyrics to Frank Sinatra's 'Strangers in the Night'.
On the eve of Valentine's Day, Hodgins delivered the gift once again. This time it was a book on codes and their history. The message, once decoded, simply said 'Tomorrow.'
It ended simple, as well.
On Valentine's Day, when Zack arrived at the forensic platform Booth was waiting for him, holding a single red rose.
Upon hearing the FBI agent say 'Will you be my valentine?', the squint promptly turned the same shade as the rose; nevertheless, he smiled and kissed his no-longer-secret admirer.