First Date

by Foot Tapper

Originally written to follow 'Recuperation' but can be a standalone. Set after 'Two Bodies in the Lab' and was written before I had watched any of the remaining episodes of S1.

FIRST DATE

Fandom:Bones
Pairing:Booth/Brennan
Rating: T

Summary: Set after 'Two Bodies In The Lab'

Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me – I'm just borrowing them!

I have taken major liberties with Booth's apartment, his family and the details about Brennan's brother. For those who forget names, Michael is Michael Stires, Brennan's former professor and old flame.

It was Friday afternoon and Brennan was just finishing up with a set of bones which had arrived that morning. Hodgins and Zack were moving around in the background, clearing equipment away and the quiet hum of their working environment was interrupted by Angela as she bounded up to Brennan.

"So? Big weekend's coming up… what are you wearing? Something funky or something refined?"

"Wear?" Brennan asked. "Wear for what?"

Angela rolled her eyes. "What are you going to wear for your date with Booth tomorrow night?" Brennan took Angela's arm and ushered her away from the working area.

"Angela" she hissed, "Do you mind? I don't want everyone to know about this. I have no idea if this will work out and I have no intention of being the subject of office gossip!"

"Fine, whatever" Angela replied, "But you do still need to decide what to wear. Now, I suggest you go for something feminine. Make sure Booth sees you as a woman and not just his work partner."

Hodgins walked by, commenting, "Oh yeah. You should go for something low cut too. I mean, if you're going to go with the feminine look, you might as well go all out. So to speak …" he added as Brennan looked furiously at him and then at Angela.

"Actually I think Dr Brennan should wear whatever she feels comfortable in," said Zack as he closed a drawer and locked it. Brennan wheeled round at Zack and then back at Angela who had 'What?' written all over her face. "Angela, I told you about this in the strictest of confidence!" Brennan said through gritted teeth.

Before Angela had a chance to defend herself, Hodgins jumped in with, "And Angela told us in the strictest of confidence so really it's no big deal. We'll keep it between us. Squints honour." He smiled, raising his hand in a mock salute, despite the icy look Brennan was giving him.

Angela decided to take charge before Brennan had the chance to retreat. "So, a nice, soft, feminine look and subtle make up. You're going to his apartment so you don't need a lot of colour but you don't want to look like you came straight from work either."

"That's right," Hodgins said, "and take a bottle of wine. I mean, he would if he were coming over to your place."

Angela shook her head. "No, not wine. He's a guy. Take beer. It's more casual and he'll probably prefer it. Plus, you have no idea whether he likes red or white."

"Or take both. Then he can drink the beer and you can drink the wine. That's both beer and wine. Not both red and white," said Hodgins who was quite obviously enjoying this advice giving session.

Brennan looked at them helplessly. "OK, firstly, Booth can't drink alcohol because he's still on medication. Secondly, I can't drink because I'll be driving. So no alcohol," she said crossly. They looked back at her with disappointed faces.

"OK, well you need to think about what take out food you're going to have. Don't go for anything too strong like Indian – it will give you bad breath which is a major no no for kissing," Angela pressed.

Zack, eager to get involved, piped up, "Oh and garlic bread is also out. For the same bad breath reason." Proud to have contributed, he smiled broadly at Brennan.

Brennan was reeling from all this advice and mentally shook her head in order to gain some sense of reality, "Thank you for all of your helpful comments but this dinner … it's not anything to make a fuss over …. I don't want you to think …" she broke off. It was evident that nothing she could say would convince them that this date was not something to take an interest in. Conceding defeat, Brennan asked Zack to do a final clear up as she was heading home. "Goodnight guys. Have a good weekend," she said as she headed to her office to collect her jacket and bag. Minutes later, she closed her office door, waved to them all and walked out of the building.

As the team watched her leave, Hodgins said gleefully, "Ten bucks she's home by 10.00pm." Angela turned to look at him with surprise on her face. Always ready for a challenge, she replied, "Twenty bucks she's home by midnight!" Zack jumped in with, "Thirty bucks she doesn't come home at all!" and was puzzled to see both Hodgins and Angela look at him, look at each other and then walk away shaking their heads. "What?" he called after them, "What did I say?"

As Brennan drove home, she pondered her forthcoming date and the delight her co-workers had taken in sharing their opinions on what she should do. Was it that a big deal to them? She had had her share of dates so surely they understood she was capable of going on one without them telling her what to do?

Shaking her head, she realised it wasn't that it was a date. It was a date with Booth and if it didn't work out, it could mean a very awkward working environment for them all. Was that why they were trying so hard to make sure she got it right? Or was it simply because they wanted her and Booth to make a go of it? Too many questions and not enough answers, she thought.

Arriving home, Brennan stripped off her work clothes and stepped into the shower. As she washed away the stresses of the day, she remembered Angela's comments about kissing. Brennan enjoyed kissing just like any other woman but in reality, her experience had been that good kissing led to good sex. She had rarely found it to be a simply romantic gesture – it had always led to something more - at least with the few guys she had been with. This was probably because she had always been reluctant to let anyone in and had wanted to keep relationships simple, fun, sexually rewarding and no commitments to things like marriage or children. Michael had been the exception to that but although he was her most recent sex partner, he had disappointed her deeply in that courtroom and there was nothing he could do to erase the image she had of him now. Brennan sighed. There was a time when she'd thought that Michael was possibly 'the one' but it hadn't worked out and his character flaws had opened her eyes beyond the original crush she had had on him and the torch she had carried for him since then. Comparing Michael to Booth seemed an insult to Booth on so many levels that she moved on from that thought quickly.

Her thoughts returned to the kissing question. First dates always led to a kiss at the end of the night. It generally fell into two categories: it was either a polite kiss to say thanks for the date but I have no intention of seeing you again, or it was a good kiss, varying in degrees of passion depending on the person, which said, I had a great time tonight, let's do it again. Brennan wondered what kiss she would have with Booth. What if Booth wanted another date and she didn't or vice versa? What if he didn't kiss her at all? Realising that she was panicking, Brennan stepped out of the shower, put on some comfortable clothes and concentrated on making herself some dinner, pushing all other disturbing thoughts aside.

Booth awoke on Saturday morning and smiled. Tonight, he would be having his first date with Bones. His smile faded into a contemplative frown as he thought over what it would mean for them. Revealing how they felt to each other had been like a release and their subsequent phone calls in the last few days had been warm and friendly, each knowing that Saturday would bring a new development for them. It was something he had been looking forward to but now, lying in bed, he began to wonder if he'd made the right choice in asking her to dinner.

What if all they had in common was work? What if their apparent attraction to each other wore off or revealed itself to be lust wrapped up in a friendly package? What if they were supposed to be just good friends and forcing something more would ruin what they already had?

Oh my God, thought Booth. She really has got to me. Stop over-thinking this, he told himself, have a fun night and see where it takes you. With that resolve, Booth got out of bed and headed for the kitchen to see what he had in the cupboard for breakfast.

It was around lunchtime on Saturday and Brennan was staring at her wardrobe. "Something feminine, Angela said," she mused aloud but was uninspired by what she saw before her. Brennan's wardrobe was limited in choice. It boiled down to smart trousers and shirts (work), jeans and t-shirts (weekends) and two black dresses (formal wear). This was a nightmare that Brennan was unwilling to face alone. She picked up the phone and dialled.

"Hey, sweetie!"

"Hey Angela. I'm having a crisis," Brennan said with a small smile.

"A crisis? A midlife crisis? No, too young for that. A personality crisis? No, if anyone knows who she is, it's you. Oh, don't tell me. You're having an outfit crisis."

"You got me," replied Brennan.

"Well, I did offer to come shopping with you but oh no, you said you had plenty of clothes to wear. Now, you come crying to me and you expect my help …"

Angela was cut off by Brennan. "Ange, get over here."

"Already in the car," replied her friend.

There was something wrong with this picture. Booth had a duster in his hand. It wasn't as if the rooms were dusty, he just felt he should do it because Bones was coming over. He looked around his living room and was privately pleased with what he saw. Two black leather sofas were complimented by cream carpets and cream walls. He had a chrome, flat screen TV with a matching chrome stereo and three tasteful pictures hanging on the walls. The room was light with a masculine tone and with the photographs of Parker to give it a homey feel, it was a room he felt comfortable sitting in. He found himself hoping that Bones would like it too.

He was surprised at just how affected he was by the evening to come. He normally enjoyed dates and feeling nervous wasn't something he was used to. It was then that it occurred to him. First dates. He always enjoyed first dates. Why? Because kissing was involved, that's why. He'd been so wrapped up in preparing for this date that he'd simply not thought about what would happen at the end of it.

Booth smiled. Kissing Bones. Now that was something to look forward to. He realised with some clarity that no amount of tidying up or worrying was going to do him any good. What mattered was that they wanted to be there. They wanted to see what was beneath their professional personalities. Asking her to dinner hadn't been a mistake, it had been the natural thing to do and she, to his relief, had accepted. Confidence restored, he headed off to shower and change.

Angela arrived at Brennan's apartment with a large bag. "Are you staying over?" asked Brennan, laughing.

Angela shook her head, "Nope. That's my question for you actually."

Brennan stopped laughing. "What? Staying over? At Booth's? No, absolutely not!"

Angela shrugged. "OK, well that narrows it down a little. I brought over three outfits, all different lengths. If you were staying over, I would have suggested the shortest one – showing off those legs of yours would have sealed the deal - but as you're not, I think we should go with the ankle length skirt. It has a very slight A-line and it's silk. Beautiful," she said, simply. Angela then took out a dark green silk skirt and held it up for Brennan to see.

"Oh, Angela – it's lovely! But I have nothing to go with this." she groaned.

"Don't panic, look at this!" said Angela, who then took out a matching green silk top creating the two piece outfit that blended so well, it looked almost like a dress. The top was sleeveless with a V-neck sporting a pattern of subtle green sequins highlighting the shape of the top. It was neither prudish nor inappropriately revealing and when Brennan held it against her in front of the mirror, she could see it brought out the colours in her hair.

Before Brennan could say anything, Angela pulled out two pairs of shoes. "I wasn't sure what you would want to go for. It's a casual date so you could go for these flat sandals or if you want an extra boost of confidence, you could go for the high heel shoes – what do you think?" She looked at Brennan expectantly.

"I'm going to go for casual, "Brennan announced quietly, "No need to go too over the top," she added, smiling at her friend. As Brennan hung up the clothes on the door of her wardrobe, she noticed the shop tags attached. Frowning, she turned to Angela, "Ange, these clothes are new. I thought I was borrowing something of yours?"

Angela, rummaging through her bag, stood up and answered, "Firstly, green is so not my colour. And secondly, after yesterday's conversation with the gang, I realised that you hadn't prepared for this date so … I went shopping." Angela then handed over a small boutique bag.

Brennan took it from her with a wary look on her face. "Angela, if you've got me some awful lacy underwear, I won't wear it."

Shaking her head, Angela replied, "Oh no. I know to quit when I'm ahead. It's the matching bag."

Smiling with gratitude, Brennan stepped forward and hugged her friend in a rare show of physical affection. "Thank you," she whispered, "I really appreciate it."

Angela hugged her back warmly, "I know you do, honey. Let's hope Booth does too!"

When Booth's doorbell rang, his heart jumped a little. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door. There stood Bones in a beautiful green outfit, understated yet feminine. She looked amazing. She was carrying a heavy bag of take out food from Wong Foo's and a bottle in the other hand.

Realising he was staring, Booth ushered her in, "Hi, come in, how are you?" Brennan rewarded him with a frosty glare. This was not good.

"Oh I'm fine. Well I was until I got to Wong Foo's! There I was ordering take out for two and Sid knew all about it! He knew it was our first date! He knew we were having this date at your apartment! What is it with you people? First, Angela tells Zack and Hodgins and then you tell the local restaurant owner! Is nothing private? Can we not just go about our business without the world knowing about it?"

Brennan took a breath as her ranting ceased for the moment. Taking the opportunity to defend himself, Booth held up his hands, "Whoa, Bones! Take it easy. Sid knew about the date because I called him earlier and said you'd be picking up food for us and I asked for his special noodle recipe. I knew you hadn't tasted it before and I thought it would be nice. That's it, I promise."

Brennan felt exceptionally stupid. She had been so embarrassed when Sid had given her that knowing smile that she had simply taken the food and fled. Now it appeared that Booth had only tried to do something nice and she'd flown off the handle. Nice move, Brennan, she groaned inwardly.

"Sorry, it's just that the guys at work were teasing me about tonight and it got to the point where they were even telling me what beverage to bring and it all got too much," Brennan said looking at the floor.

"And they told you to bring Pepsi?" asked Booth, barely containing a large grin as he looked at the bottle in her hand.

Embarrassed further, Brennan looked up at him, "No, they said I should bring wine or beer or both and I said I couldn't because you were on medication and I was driving and then I thought about non-alcoholic beer but it tastes awful and then I couldn't think of what else to bring and I .."

Booth cut her off, "OK, OK I get it! It's fine, really." He smiled at her and she returned it as she passed him the food and Pepsi bottle. As he began to walk towards the kitchen, he turned back, "Want to start again?"

Brennan smiled again and nodded, "Yes."

Despite Brennan's nerves and her earlier outburst, the dinner went well. They sat across the table from each other and talked about old cases they had worked on, friends they had made and lost touch with along the way and Booth talked about his family. His mother had died six years ago from cancer and his father had since moved into a retirement home as a result of old age rather than ill health. Booth's sister, Susan, lived just 5 miles away and was married with two kids – cousins which Parker spent a lot of time with when Booth had him for the weekend. He talked about his sister with a younger-brother affection and it was clear that he had enjoyed his childhood.

Brennan felt unable to contribute to this conversation and grew quiet. It was noticed by Booth and he apologised. "I'm sorry. I should have realised that family is not a good topic for you."

Brennan shook her head, "Don't be sorry. I like hearing about your family. I just can't reciprocate."

Booth decided to tread carefully, "Do you hear from Russ at all?"

Brennan shrugged, "Occasionally he sends me postcards from wherever he's travelling at the time. He enjoys the freedom, he's an artist so he can paint and sell his work to make money. He has the life he wanted. I don't begrudge him that simply because the life he wanted isn't near me."

Booth took her hand gently, "I know you don't. But it would be nice to see him more often, right? Hey, it's okay to admit that you miss somebody." He looked at her intently, not wanting to upset her but at the same time, wanting her to open up to him.

She looked from his hand, entwined with hers, to his face. She knew he was right but admitting it would open up gateways she had no way of closing and she wasn't ready for that yet. Carefully, she withdrew her hand, "It's fine. I'm used to Russ being away," and as if to further reassure him, she smiled broadly at him.

With a small nod, Booth got up from the table to clear the dishes away, deciding to let the subject drop for now. He winced as he knocked his hip against the corner of the table. While his external injuries from the bomb blast had faded, he was still sore internally. Brennan watched him with concern, "Will you please be careful? You're still recuperating." Noticing that almost all of his bruises had disappeared, she added, "You know, it's amazing – your bruises are almost gone."

Booth nodded, "Yeah, I've always been able to heal quickly. Just lucky I guess."

Brennan helped Booth load the dishwasher and when the task was completed, Booth asked her what she wanted to watch on TV. Brennan shrugged, "I told you, my TV is broken so I haven't watched anything for a while. What do you suggest?"

"Well, there are a couple of movies to choose from. The TV guide is on the table," replied Booth who was actually thinking of something else he'd rather be doing. As Brennan went to walk into the living room, Booth caught her hand and pulled her back to him. Deciding not to wait any longer, he leant towards her and kissed her gently.

Brennan was caught off guard but did not step away from the kiss. She could feel a slight tremble in his lips and a hesitation there and she knew he was giving her the chance to retreat. Recovering from the initial shock, Brennan moved slightly nearer to him, encouraging him to let go of her hand and rest both of his hands on her hips. He continued to kiss her softly, his lips massaging hers and as she rested her hands on his upper arms, she relaxed further and tilted her head to enjoy the kiss more. Booth felt her relax and while he wanted to continue, he also knew that to rush this would be a mistake.

To Brennan's disappointment, he did not deepen the kiss but gently withdrew from her. Looking down at her, he smiled and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to shock you but I didn't want to wait all night."

Brennan's mind was still trying to realign itself with her body which was tingling all over. "All night?"

"Yeah. First dates always end with a kiss which usually tells you whether the other person likes you or not," he shrugged, "but I already know I like you and it seems you feel the same so why wait?"

Brennan laughed, "You're right," and it occurred to her that their kiss had left her feeling warm, happy and aroused and yet it hadn't felt like a pre-sex kiss. He hadn't tried to deepen the kiss or undress her. He had kissed her because he liked her and the experience was a refreshing one.

Booth broke their combined gaze by asking, "So, do you want to watch a movie now?"

"No," she replied, which brought a raised eyebrow from Booth, "I mean, it's late and I should go." If Booth was disappointed at her leaving, he didn't show it but reached for his jacket which was hanging on the back of a chair instead.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm driving you home," he replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But I have my own car. There's no need for you drive me home, really," said Brennan.

Booth shook his head, "No way am I going to let you drive home alone at this time of night, it's almost 11.30pm. I'll take you home and then pick you up tomorrow so you can collect your car."

Brennan was surprised, "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow. I'll take you to a nice place I know for breakfast … I mean, if you want ….?" He trailed off. The offer had come from nowhere but he realised that he wanted to spend more time with her and if he let her set the pace, their second date would probably take place three months from now. Knowing that he had to take the lead on this, he looked at her carefully, waiting for her to reply.

Brennan returned his look and without wavering, "Yes, I'd love to have breakfast with you. Very much," she added with a smile.

Crammed into Hodgins' Mini, Angela, Zack and Hodgins all sat with cheeseburgers and fries for company.

"I can't believe you talked me into this," moaned Angela who had the front passenger seat next to Hodgins.

"I didn't talk you into it! This is all Zack's fault!" exclaimed Hodgins who glared angrily at Zack.

"It is not my fault!" cried Zack, "You were placing bets and I wanted to join in. How was I to know that staying over on a first date was a big deal? I don't go on dates. I don't know this stuff. I thought you sexually active, single people did this all the time! And, my God, Hodgins, does this car actually advertise being able to hold four people because this back seat is horribly designed!"

Hodgins, ignoring the remark about his car, snapped back, "Of course it's all your fault! If you hadn't come up with that bet, Angela could have just asked Dr Brennan what time she got home. Now that you've thrown the whole staying over in the mix, we have to sit outside her apartment building to see if she actually comes home or not!"

Angela cut in, "Guys! Enough already! We're here now and it shouldn't be too long. I'm sure that Brennan won't stay over and as we've already passed Hodgins' timescale, we only have to wait another half hour or so. I just can't believe that I'm stuck in a toy car on a Saturday night with you two. What has my life become?" she wondered almost to herself, while looking at her watch.

"Do you mind?" Hodgins was still angry about Zack's comments about his car and was now wounded by Angela's apparent reluctance to be with them. "You could have worse company you know. At least …" he stopped mid sentence as he saw Booth's car pull up, "Well, look who we have here!"

At that, his two companions looked over and saw Brennan and Booth get out of the vehicle and walk towards the door of her building. "11.52pm!" squealed Angela, "All right, let's go! Oh and you two have to pay up!" While Hodgins drove away quickly, Angela looked back to the couple in the doorway. Hoping that the night had been successful, she crossed her fingers tightly.

Brennan's keys rattled as she took them out of her bag. "Well, thank you for the ride home. It was very … gentlemanly of you," she finally managed, still finding the whole experience a little weird as she was usually so independent. Booth grinned back at her, knowing he would have to tread carefully and not change her normal order of things too much, "You're welcome. So I'll pick you up around 9.00am tomorrow for breakfast?" he asked.

Brennan nodded, "9 o'clock it is. And thanks for a lovely night. If I'm honest, I wasn't sure how it would feel, to be on a date with you."

Booth took her hand and squeezed it, "Yeah, me too. But I think we did okay … after you calmed down!" he said, laughing.

Blushing, Brennan replied, "Don't, please! I'm embarrassed enough! I'll have to go and see Sid and explain why I left in such a hurry without even saying goodbye!"

Still chuckling, Booth slid his free hand to the back of her neck and eased her towards him. Lowering his lips to hers, he kissed her slowly, savouring the taste of her, the smell of her perfume and feel of her skin as he massaged her neck. Brennan's arms went around his waist as she kissed him back and then, as if waiting for her response, Booth flicked his tongue against hers and their kiss deepened as she'd longed for earlier.

Brennan let out a small moan of protest as finally their kiss ended with Booth pulling back gently. Slightly breathless, he said, "I think I should go now before I find it very difficult to leave."

He smiled down at her and blushing again, she nodded. Quietly, she replied, "Yeah. I want to ask you to stay but I think that might be too much too soon?" She ended with a question, wondering if Booth was thinking along the same lines as she was.

"I don't want to rush this either. Neither one of us wants just another notch on our bedpost so let's see how it goes, okay?"

"OK" she replied, relieved to see they were on the same wavelength. Stepping out of his warm embrace, they said goodnight and he waited for her to open the door and go inside before he walked back to the car.

When Hodgins dropped Zack home, Angela got out and pushed her seat forward to let him out. "Hey, Angela," he said, "I'm sorry about ruining your Saturday night."

She shook her head, "You didn't Zack – it's just not what I would have chosen to do on my weekend." To make him feel better, Angela rubbed his arm affectionately and gave him a kiss on the cheek. With a reddened face, Zack walked up to his house.

Angela got back in the car and sighed before Hodgins drove on to her apartment. When they arrived, he finally spoke up, "Angela, I know this wasn't quite the evening you had planned but we did have a little fun, didn't we? I mean, we had to know if she stayed over and now you know that she got home safely."

Angela nodded, "Yeah, I hate it when she insists on driving by herself late at night." She paused before continuing, "Brennan deserves some happiness in her personal life, Jack, and I think Booth is the one who can give it to her."

"He might just do that," agreed Hodgins, "So, are you going to invite me in for coffee or what?"

Angela turned to look at him quickly, "What?"

"Coffee! Just coffee. Jeez, you've got a filthy mind! I drank all of my Coke hours ago and I'm thirsty so get the percolator on already."

Angela shook her head in defeat and the two of them got out of the car and made their way to Angela's apartment. As they walked through the door, she lectured him on wiping his feet and he started to give her the in-depth details on what an average person carried around on the soles of their shoes and how no amount of wiping would ever get it all off …..

When Brennan got into bed that night, she laid on her back staring at the ceiling. The date had gone so much better than she'd hoped for - with the exception of the misunderstanding at the beginning - and with breakfast to look forward to in the morning, Brennan realised that for the first time she felt excited to be entering into a relationship. They were a long way off making a serious commitment but she knew there was a real possibility that Booth could be the guy who might fully understand her. The guy who wouldn't try to stifle her work or try to change her. Booth could be the one guy who could partner her in every sense and with that thought, she drifted off to sleep …….

As Booth lay in bed, he stared up at the ceiling, wondering what Brennan was doing right now. Maybe she's staring up at her ceiling, he thought. He smiled as he went over the evening and how it had felt to kiss her. Oh yes, he thought, first dates are all about the kissing ……