Ok, just another one-shot, hope you like it

Disclaimer: I dont own Bones or the song 'Smile like a friend'

Like a friend

I rubbed a tired hand over my face. It had been a long day, and one that had led to the discovery of two sets of remains. Needless to say I'd had enough and all I really wanted was to kick off my shoes, grab a beer and fall asleep in front of the T.V after watching highlights of the game I knew I had missed. Fate had other ideas.

The knock at the door came somewhere between steps two and three, the beer was in my hand but I hadn't yet settled myself onto the sofa. I sighed and for a moment considered ignoring the light rapping. Common sense and courtesy kicked in however. It was late, late plus knocking usually equalled important…well that or an unwitting delivery boy who was about to get a piece of my mind. In the end it wasn't a delivery boy, and its importance was questionable. An anxious looking Temperance Brennan was on the other side of the door. Her skin seemed pale in the harsh light she was stood beneath and contrasted with the darkness of her auburn hair as it hung loosely around her shoulders. She'd never looked better in my opinion and I opened the door a little wider to let her in.

'I'm…I'm sorry…I know its late but…'

I held up a hand and smiled to halt her muttered apology.

Don't bother saying you're sorry

Why don't you come in

Smoke all my cigarettes again

She stands awkwardly by the door and refuses my offer of a drink. I moved back to the couch and she followed, sitting as far away as she could on the end of the sofa, wringing the scarf she had been wearing between her hands where she held it on her lap.

'Like I said, I'm sorry its so late. Its just…after today…I was sat at home and…'

'Its ok, I get it.'

I did. I was the same sometimes, it wasn't the first time one of us had found the quietness and isolation of our own apartments unbearable after a hard days work or the end of a harrowing case. I'd often turned up on her doorstep, a take-away bag in one hand, a bottle of wine in the other and she'd turned up here before, a shaky smile on her face and a Tupperware box containing minutes old mac 'n' cheese in her arms. The fact that she'd come without food, drink or even a plausible explanation was disconcerting but then again…it had been a hard day.

'I stayed in the lab for a bit after you left.'

'Bones. You promised you were going home.'

'I lied.'

I knew she was blunt but not like this.

'I should have made you go home.'

'You're not my carer Booth.'

I wish I was.

Every time I get no further

How long has it been?

Come on in now, wipe your feet on my dreams

'They were just children.'

'What?'

The coolness in her voice was telling, she was disturbed, trying to detach herself once more from the horrors of the world we shared. Her actions however, in coming here tonight, showed another side to her, a side that suggested she wanted to mull over the days events rather than forget them.

'The two sets of remains we found today, I did the cursory examination before I left.'

'And?'

She was still staring straight ahead, her crystalline eyes focussed on my wall. Her knuckles were white with the strain of clutching her hands together. The scarf lay long since forgotten on my living room floor and I wondered for the first time why she had worn it anyway on such a relatively warm night.

'A male and a female, both between nine and twelve, cause of death was a single shot to the front of the skull, execution style.'

She exhaled and I moved closer to sit directly beside her.

'I'm waiting on DNA results but from looking at the similar tissue markers and skeletal features I'd say they were related.'

'Brother and sister?'

She nodded and I watched her more intensely, noting the subtle change in the colour of her eyes that happened only when she was as upset as I suspected she was now. I became captivated with the stereotypical perfection of her creamy skin and noted the sophisticated neatness of her eyebrows and the way the ends of her eyelashes were tinted with a slightly darker tone than the hair on her head.

You take up my time

Like some cheap magazine

When I could have been learning something

Oh well, you know what I mean, oh

Tears formed in her eyes as she turned to me. We were so close I could feel her breath on the side of my face. I was startled at the sadness in her eyes and was even more shocked at the way she refused to hide it.

'I…I..'

She struggled with the words and a small splutter escaped from her lips as she tried to control her crying. I placed and arm round her but she shrugged it off and I wasn't presumptuous enough to replace it.

'I need to say this.'

She stood up and the tears in her eyes seemed to dry a little as they glistened beneath the light. She now seemed to have a purpose, there was a reason she'd come here tonight and I had a feeling the remains we'd found were simply the tip of the iceberg.

'I was sat there in the lab looking at the remains of those children, children who were taken from their homes, lead to a secluded place in the woods, murdered, most likely in front of each other and then buried. How do you not miss two kids? How does no one know?'

I didn't give her an answer, she didn't want one.

'I was looking at them tonight and suddenly I…I couldn't face going home to an empty apartment.'

'So you bestowed your enchanting company on me?'

I smiled but she didn't return the favour.

'I'm being serious Booth.'

'So am I.'

She smiled this time, weakly but it was there.

I've done this before

And I will do it again

Come on and kill me baby

While you smile like a friend

'I didn't want to be alone tonight and when I thought about it, there was only one place I wanted to be, one person I wanted to see.'

She had my full attention and I watched her, not speaking, this was her show and I wasn't about to interrupt her.

'Look Booth, I don't know when it happened but some time between when we met and this moment right now you became all I think about.'

I suddenly found myself unable to breath as the cogs in my mind whizzed round at breakneck speed trying to catch up with the implications her words were making. I was struggle to make sense of the situation, I could see where this was going but in my imagination this was never the way it played out. She licked her lips and I was paying attention again.

Oh and I'll come running

Just to do it again

'I cant go through a single hour without thinking about you. At the lab I wonder when you're coming in, at home I wonder what you're doing, when I go shopping I wonder if I should buy some of that ice-cream you like just in case you come round, when I plan my weekends I plan them round you, I walk past a toy shop and I think of Parker, at night…I think about you at night.'

A blush tinged her cheeks for a moment. I would let myself think of that comment later.

You are the last drink I never should have drunk

You are the body hidden in the trunk

You are the habit I can't seem to kick

You are my secrets on the front page every week

'I cant stand this any more, I hate it, I want my life back.'

Ok so this definitely wasn't the way I had seen this going.

'Temperance…'

'No, listen to me. You're all I ever think about and I hate it, I hate that you're such a big part of my life, I hate that I feel as though I cant do things alone anymore, I hate that tonight I couldn't go home because you weren't there and I hate that I'm crying and I hate that I feel so lost and I hate that it makes no sense…and more than anything I hate the fact that if any of these feelings ever go away I don't know what I'll do.'

My heart skipped a beat then I swear for a second it actually stopped as she looked me straight in the eye. I stood up, knowing it was finally my turn to talk, and moved to stand in front of her. She looked away but I placed a finger beneath her chin and her eyes slid back towards mine.

You are the car I never should have bought

You are the dream I never should have caught

You are the cut that makes me hide my face

You are the party that makes me feel my age

'You're not on your own you know.'

She simply blinked at me.

'I'm the same. I flick past the discovery channel and think of you, I see a brunette in the street and mistake her for you, you're fast becoming the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think of at night.'

She looked suddenly exhausted, as if the whole situation was becoming overwhelming.

'What does that mean?'

'I don't know.'

Honesty always was the best policy with Temperance Brennan.

'Me neither.'

It seemed the honesty rout was looking good to her too. I made the mistake of moving my line of focus a little and was faced with the graceful curve of her lips. Faced with the undeniable urge to kiss her I reminded myself that I wasn't going to take advantage of her. It was late, she was upset. I was not going to take advantage, I was not going to take advantage, I was not…

That's how I was surprised when her lips connected with mine. She was soft and warm and a million other things I knew only she could be. We kissed for only the briefest of moments before she ended it, taking a step away from me. I missed her immediately.

'I thought you didn't know what this was.'

She smiled. I noticed her eyes had changed colour again but they contained not a hint of sorrow as they sparkled in my direction.

'I don't, I was acting on impulse.'

'You don't do that.'

'Maybe I'm learning.'

I smiled but her face turned serious again.

'Booth…Seeley…'

I moved to sit down again. Standing was harder when she said my name like that, an experimental breathy whisper on her oh-so-kissable lips.

'I want…I need to take this slow. I meant what I said, I don't know what this is but…but I'm willing to find out. I just need some time. I need to figure all this out, I need us to be normal, just for a little longer. I need you to wait.'

I resisted the urge to smile and shake my head at the sound of it. Any other guy would have been frustrated, angry even. Two years of waiting had come to this…more waiting. If the situation had been described to me, recounted by a friend, I'd had told them to give it up, said them the girl was stringing them along, it was never going anywhere but I wasn't a friend and she wasn't just some girl. It was her and I understood. I nodded and smiled reassuringly as she sat next to me and I hugged her to my side. It would have felt like any other hug except for the way my body now seemed hyper sensitive to every curve and contour of her body. I took a breath, I could wait.

Like a car crash I can see but I just can't avoid

Like a plane I've been told I never should board

Like a film that's so bad but I've got to stay till the end

Let me tell you now: it's lucky for you that we're friends.

After all, she's my friend.