Booth walked with his buddies down the Jeffersonian High school hall. His football friends weren't aware of it, but he was skimming the school with his eyes. One of his friends, Allen, interrupted his thoughts.
"Booth, are you listening?" Allen shook him.
"Huh? What? Sorry, Allen. What were you saying?"
"I just asked you what you were looking for."
"Oh. Umm. Nothing. Nothing. Don't worry about it." Booth said as he looked at Allen.
"You look more like you've got somethin' on your mind." Allen protested.
"It's nothin', Al. I said don't worry about it." Booth reassured his friend and went back to talking to his friends. "Hey, guys. I'll catch you later. There's somewhere I need to be." He told his friends before leaving his way. Truth was, he didn't want to be around them anymore. He was afraid that they were going to make him pick on another kid and that that kid might turn out to be Zach or Hodgins. He walked away and drank some water from the water fountain.
Hodgins was hunching over some catipillars that were chewing away at a leaf. When he looked up, he saw Angela gossipping with her lady friends and laughing the whole time. He sighed and wondered, 'Would she say hi to me if I greeted her? Or would she remember me at all?' He was about to walk up to her when Zach came out of no where and accidentally bumped into him.
"Zach!" Hodgins growled.
"S-sorry, Hodgins." Zach picked up the books he was carrying and stood up. Hodgins's anger started to go away as he saw the young nerd struggling to get by.
He sighed and put a hand on his shoulder, "No, I'm sorry, man. Have you seen or talked to anyone from Saturday?"
"I've only talked to you just now. Why?"
"Do you think Booth or Angela would remember us nerds?" Hodgins asked as his gaze dozed off at Angela's direction.
"It's not up to me to know. Personally, Booth scares me, so I don;t think I'm going to bother to greet him." Zach trembled. "I think that I would have a better chance of talking to Angela when she's alone than with Booth, for that matter. Angela's very nice."
"Hmm. We're just going to have to go and see for ourselves. Let's have a chat with her, shall we?" Hodgins grabbed Zach by the arm and dragged him over to Angela and her group of friends. Her friends stared in awe at the two boys coming towards them.
"Uhh, h-hi, Angela." Zach said and Hodgins joined in, "Hi, Ange."
The two looked at her, hoping that she will remember them. Angela had a slight frown on her face, but then it grew into a big, cheerful smile.
"Hey! Hi, Zach! Hey, Hodgins! How was your weekend?!" She grabbed them into a big embrace. She then tried to introduce them to her friends when one of them snorted out, "Yeah, we know who they are. They're the weirdos in my science class."
Angela's smile disappeared. "What did you call them?"
"Weirdos. I can't beleive you talk to them, Ange. We thought you were cool." With that, she and the rest of the girls walked away.
Angela glared at them and yelled out, "Oh yeah?! Well...Screw you! That's why you chicks are morans!"
Hodgins and Zach watched her in disbeleif.
"Ange. You lost your friends--" Hodgins began, but was interrupted by Angela.
"Friends? I didn't lose them! I'm staring right at them!" She had a warm smile as she began to walk with them.
Brennan still kept getting lost in her classes. She lingered around and observed each door until she remembered where her next class would be. She didn't realize that she was going to walk into someone at the water fountain.
"Hey!" She heard a male voice call out when she accidentally stepped on his foot. When she looked up, she saw Booth standing right before her.
"Booth." She managed to say. She wasn't sure if he was going to remember her, but it was an attempt to show that she knew who he was. He smiled, "Hey, Brennan. Long time no see."
"It's only been a day, Booth."
"I know. It's a joke. How ya been?"
"Fine. You?"
"Good." There was an awkward silence between them as if there was nothing else for them to say.
"I saw your friends go the other way." She said. "Why aren't you with them?"
"Oh, well, I figured that I needed some time off from the guys. They can be rough sometimes."
"Hmm." She looked down at her bookbag and sighed. "I wasn't sure if you would remember me."
"Yeah, well, me neither. What class do you have next?"
"Chemistry, but I have a problem remembering where it's located."
"I'll walk you to it."
They began to walk when they ran into Angela, Hodgins, and Zach.
"Sweetie!" Angela crushed Brennan in a bear hug and then Booth. "I see we all remember eachother!"
"Lucky me," Booth grumbled as he caught sight of Zach. He didn't like Zach. He thought Zach was too weird.
"As long as we're here, I say we make a pact." Hodgins suggested.
"Like a promise?" Brennan asked.
"Yeah. We promise to never forget eachother." Hodgins said.
"I like it." Angela smiled.
Everybody put their hands together except for Booth. They looked at him and he was the last one to join in.
"Everybody say with me, 'Bugs!'" Hodgins said.
"Why bugs?" Zach asked. "Why not 'Science'?"
"Because I don't think Angela or I like science!" Booth growled.
"Why not 'Art'?" Angela raised an eyebrow. They stared to argue what to use when Brennan said in a timy voice, "How about 'Bones'?"
They stared at her. "Bones?" Booth asked.
"Bones. That sounds cool." Hodgins said, thinking about it. "It kinda reminds me of pirates in the 1700s."
"And it's short," Angela put in.
They all agreed on 'Bones' and after their little pact, Booth whispered to Brennan, "Why 'Bones'?"
"I just liked the sound of it."
"No, no, no. There must've been a reason."
"Fine. I'd like to be a forensic anthropologist someday."
"A what?"
"A forensic anthropologist. Someone who studies bones." Brennan looked into his dark, brown eyes. He was amused, she could tell. A sudden smile appeared on his face.
"What?" Brennan asked.
"Nothin'. I just found a nickname for ya."
"No. You are not going to call me 'Bones'."
"Too late." Booth slyly smiled.
"Booth, that is just something you can't call a person!"
"Does it bother you, Bones?"
"Yes, it does."
"Well, I could stop, but I won't. Sorry, Bones." He laughed and went to his class as the bell rang.
Hodgins was sitting in a table with Zach for lunch when Angela came in.
"Hey guys! What're you doin'?" Angela asked as Hodgins held up his food in a fork.
"Trying to figure out why the macaroni and cheese is green." Hodgins said without looking up.
"Maybe it has a nugee?" Angela suggested. Zach gave her a confused look.
"What is a 'nugee'? I don't comprehend on such word." He asked. Hodgins looked up and stared at Angela in amazement.
"Zach, a 'nugee' is when you spit out boogers."
"I find that disgusting." Zach said as he wrinkled up his nose. Hodgins went back to investigate when Angela slightly kicked him. He looked up as she was motioning them to get out. Hodgins got the drift.
"Um. Zach? We're going to talk to Cam. Go find Booth and Brennan." Ange smiled sweetly and grabbed Hodgins by the arm. When they were out of sight, Hodgins asked, "What was that about?"
"Sorry, but looking at that green goo made me tipsy. I need to show you something. Come on."
They sneaked into the janitor's closet and she took out a book and handed it to him.
"What is it?" He asked opening it and gasping. She smiled pleasantly.
"I bought it for you. It's a book on all of history's mythologies. I know that you like to learn about these things and--"
Hodgins interrupted, "Ange. I don't know what to say! This is more than words!" His eyes lingered to hers. Her eyes brightened. "I don't usually meet guys like you, Jack." His name on her lips sent shivers go up and don his spine. They were quiet for a moment when Hodgins leaned in as did Angela to a perfect, soft kiss. Her mouth parted and let his tongue roam around her mouth. Her arms swung around his neck as he deepened the kiss. As soon as their lips touched, everything blanked out of their heads. It wasn't until the janitor came in and interrupted.
"Hey! What are you doin' here?! Get out! Get out! This ain't no make-out room! Get out before I call the principal in for ya!"
Angela grabbed Hodgins's hand and ran out of there, giggling. They finally stopped at a queit corner and resumed to kiss. When they pulled apart, Hodgins looked into her eyes and deeply breathed.
"You are an amazing woman, Angela Montenegro."
"And you seize to amaze me, Jack Hodgins." They smiled and began to walk away, hand in hand.
Zach looked around for Booth or Brennan. He was only hoping to run into Brennan. Booth scared him. A lot. As he walked, he bumped into Booth.
"Watch it, squint!" Booth yelled out.
"S-sorry. I d-didn't mean to--"
Booth sighed and rolled his eyes. "What are you doin'?"
"Me? I'm just looking for either you or Brennan."
"You mean Bones?" Booth asked with a slight smile.
"Don't call me Bones." The unexpected voice of Brennan came from behind.
"Hey, Bones! How's class?" Booth used his charm smile which made her weaken her knees. She couldn't resist but to smile back.
"What do you need, Zach?" She asked.
"I'm not sure. Hodgins and Angela told me to find you."
"I'm sure they just wanted some alone time, if you know what I mean." Booth waggled his eyebrows up and down. Brennan and Zach, who were confused, stared at him.
"I don't know what that means." Brennan's eyes caught Booth's. He rolled his eyes and sighed, again.
"Never mind, Bones. Zach, maybe you should go look for them while me and Bones wait for you three. Hmm?"
Brennan opened her mouth to protest when Zach went away.
"That was mean."
"What?" He snorted.
"You simply don't like him which is why you just dismiss him like that."
"Well, I never said I liked the kid. He's just so...weird."
" 'Weird'?! You are just evying him because of his intelligence!"
"I do not envy him! He's just weird, that's all! Fine, I won't be mean to him anymore, but I'm going to ignore him. For you, Bones."
He smiled sweetly as blood boiled in Brennan's veins. Impossible! He's so alpha-male! Ugh!
"You are an impossible, arrogant...MAN!" Brennan scrunched her face in anger and turned to walk away when Booth spun her around and laughed.
"Wait, Bones!" He laughed. "No need to get frustrated! I was only kidding."
Booth couldn't help but to feel guilty of having her get mad at him. He liked her and he didn't want to risk anything even though they just met that weekend. Brennan huffed and showed no sign of calming down.
"Aww, come on, Bones."
She turned her head to not look at him.
"Bones, I'm sorry. Come on." Again, she refused to look at him.
"Temperance." He spoke with softness, yet with determination of getting her attention. A chill went up and down her spine as she stared into his pleading, solemn eyes.
"What?" She tried hard not to break as he stared back at her.
"I'm sorry." She sighed as a charm smile crept to Booth's lips which made her smile back.
"I forgive you, Booth."
"Glad to hear it, Bones." He smiled as she grinned back.
"Don't call me 'Bones'."
"Sweetie!" They turned to see Hodgins and Angela grinning like clowns and Zach a bit disturbed.
"Hey, Ange. Where have you been?" Brennan asked.
Zach's face was pale and he grumbled, "Apparently making out in the corner with Hodgins."
Angela laughed nervously and slightly patted Zach on the back with an open hand. "Poor Zachy. I'm sorry you had to see that."
Zach, who was still confused of what she meant by the simple gesture of patting him with an open hand, brooded. Booth and Hodgins laughed at him.
Suddenly, Booth's buddies came and pushed Zach out of the way.
"Booth! You hanging out with nerds now?! Come on! We found another dork to 'play' with!"
Brennan looked at Booth with ocean blue eyes. She had a feeling that he was going to go with them and she knew that he'd be the laughing stock if he stayed. Booth couldn't keep his eyes off of Brennan's eyes. She seemed to beg him not to go. He sighed and looked at Zach and Hodgins, who were standing awkwardly at the side. Angela's expression grew grim as Booth turned his attention to his buddies.
"No." His friends seemed to be shocked at this.
"Fine. Suit yourself. I didn't know you liked hanging out with the freaks. I'm surprised at you, Booth. You too, Angela." They walked away and laughed at them.
Brennan placed a hand on Booth's arm and nodded. "You didn't break your promise. I'm proud of you."
"Dude, thanks." Hodgins smiled and Zach nodded.
"Well," Angela started, "I guess we're not part of the popular group anymore."
"Welcome to the dark side." Hodgins laughed.
As school ended, Booth and Bones walked home together.
"I really thought that you were going to abandon us." Brennan quietly said.
"Nah."
"But you were. I could see it."
Booth stopped walking and stared hard into her eyes. "Why would you think that?"
"Why not? You're popular. What made you stay? I know it was more than just the promise."
Booth stayed silent. The real reason was because he had grown too attached to Brennan. Since he found out that her parents left her, he vowed to himself that he would be her friend for as long as he could.
"Because...you're my friend, right? That's why. Friends don't leave another friend behind."
Brennan had tears in her eyes. Those words meant so much to her that a tear dropped down her cheek. Booth cupped her chin and forced her to look at him.
"Hey. I won't ever leave you." She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you, Booth." She spoke quietly. Booth turned tense as her lips left his cheek and her warmth spread through his body. He rubbed circles on her shoulders and smiled.
"You're welcome, Bones."
FINISH!!!!!! YAY!
Sorry, I sorta speeded up the ending, but I kept getting bugged by my friend to keep writing and pressure gets me all Speedy Gonzales inside. Hope you enjoyed it!!! ;)
