This is my first fanfic and it's now complete. Please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or song lyrics here. But the characters and the non-couple romance both inspire and frustrate me!

There are 8 chapters in this entry but the story itself has 9 chapters. In between chapters 7 and 8 there is an interlude I put into a separate entry due to a content shift. If you want to read the extra chapter it falls between chapters 7 and 8 and it's in a separate entry on this site titled "Merry Christmas, Booth". It's M rated.


"Merry Christmas, Bones"

He let the longing show nakedly on his face, thankful for the expanse between them. Those moments where he could let himself feel for her, let it course through him, were rare and he savored it. He tried to pick out her features from afar; searching for her eyes, wishing he could read her thoughts at that moment through those beautiful blue...

He pulled himself out of his thoughts, realizing Parker was trying to climb up to investigate the battery connection for the tree. "C'mon buddy. Lets put this in the truck and go home."


Parker played contentedly with his presents on the floor while Seeley laid back on the couch and let his thoughts wander. It didn't take long for them to wander to her.

Did they ever lead to anything else?

The kiss.

It hasn't been a particularly passionate kiss. He had been dreaming of such a moment for awhile.

I wouldn't have done it that way.

He had fantasized about kissing her and so much more for so long now. But he had a line...

Damn line.

That kiss messed with that line. He could still smell her hair, could still feel her lips on his, could still feel the rush surging through him as she grabbed his collar and pulled him close. He had chewed that gum for hours.

He didn't even like gum.

Sleep was not going to come easily tonight. Resolved to that fact he forced her out of his mind and turned to Parker, intent on enjoying the time until he had to take his son to Vermont.


On the way home from Vermont his mind returned to Temperance and to the kiss.

I wish I could redo it. Do it right.

Hell.

"Line, Seeley. You have a line. You have a line for a reason...right?"

He was having a hard time remembering why. All he could think about was kissing her again, holding her, bickering with her, protecting her for the rest of their lives...

Bad idea, Seeley. Very bad idea.

But oh so good.

"This is pointless. That kiss was just a trade-off for her. A way to get what she wanted. She probably doesn't even...remember it. She said as much to Sweets"

He could read people very well. He knew her well. But he was so unsure of what she thought, and especially felt, about him. He knew she enjoyed being his partner. She loved the cases, loved the intellectual sparring and debates. But was that all? He even thought she would probably miss him if their professional partnership ended. They'd 'have coffee', or so she'd said...but was that all? His longing clouded his judgment every time he tried to figure her out beyond this. She kept him on edge and off-balance. He both reveled in it and cursed it.

I wish I knew.

It wouldn't hurt to just find out, would it? Just finding out isn't acting on anything. it's not crossing that damn line.

"Angela..." He picked up his phone and dialed, no idea how to broach this. He chuckled. Like it matters, Angela will be giddy with this.