Yeah. I decided to write another chapter because it was half-formed in my head and I wasn't sure if I should squeeze it out or not. Plus, thanks to SleepDeprived07, I realized that I left out Cam. She was in the story in my head, but when I started typing, she must have gone to the ladies' room. So, that's what the first part is about. Thank you all for your reviews, they made me want to get going with the next chapter quickly.
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Cam sat on a plastic chair in the diner away from the celebration that was slowly coming to an end. She had been sitting in the same spot for nearly an hour. The rest of the party didn't interrupt her train of thought. Her eyes had been glued to Seely Booth, the man she thought she loved. After seeing the way he interacted with Brennan, or "Bones" as he called her, made her upset. She told herself that she shouldn't be surprised or even upset. She knew their relationship wasn't much more than sex. It was more than that she thought. Why else would he have held my hand during that horrid video? Booth is a nice guy, that's why. Her mind raced. She thought all of those looks he'd given her meant something. She thought that she meant something to him. Maybe not. What about Brennan? She knew about us. Why else would she have given Booth those looks before finding a convenient excuse to leave them alone?
But she'd seen the way Booth regarded Brennan. He gave Brennan far more sideways glances and trademark smiles than he'd been giving her lately. Not lately. Always. She'd tried to ignore it, too. She tried to make it like old times, like before she came to Washington. It had seemed like love then, but that was years ago. Still, she wasn't ready to give Seely up just yet. She reached into her bag and extracted her small cell phone and dialed the number of the man she couldn't lose.
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"I'll just be a minute," Bones said as she unlocked the door to her apartment. "And you really didn't need to follow me up here. I'm a big girl, you know."
"Bones, would you just, for once, let me do something without protesting your independence?" Booth asked.
"No," she replied honestly. "Really. I'll just be a minute, but since you've followed me this far I suppose you think you're coming in. Let's go."
"Right," was all he had to say as he followed her in silence. Her apartment was dark, but she moved around without flicking on the lights. Booth was not completely familiar with her apartment, though he had been there a few times before. He could make out the empty beer bottles on her coffee table. Evidence of Russ's recent stay. He swiftly strode across the apartment and began picking up the bottles and taking them to the recycle bin. On the first trip he noticed that a rug had been placed over the recent blood stain. Bones had been right, No one could survive after losing that much blood. Booth had known that too, but continued to assure her. But it hadn't been Russ at all.
"Are we leaving?" Bones called as she met him in her kitchen. On her shoulder was a small bag containing her overnight needs.
"You sure you can fit everything in there?" He remembered the time Rebecca had stayed over all those years ago. He though she was moving in. But this was Bones. She didn't do things over the top. She only required the essentials.
"Yes. Why?"
"Oh. Nothing. I just thought it seemed a little small." She rolled her eyes at him and led them out of her apartment for the night. One minute she had been reluctant to go with him, and not she wanted nothing more than to get out of her apartment.
Fifteen minutes later they were entering his apartment, and this time he was leading. She sat her one bag next to the door and looked at him. He was reaching into his pocket, and she could make out his muffled ring tone. She wondered briefly who was calling him before resolving that it was none of her business.
"Cam? Hey. How's the party going?" She listened to that much before it hit her: he and Cam were still an "item". Or were they? She didn't tell him about hooking up with her in the first place. Maybe he didn't want to tell her about breaking up. But she saw the way Cam still looked at him. Why would he have kissed her, Bones, if he hadn't broken up with Cam? Surely Booth wasn't that kind of man. Was he? No. Brennan told herself that she had wanted that kiss and was surprised at her mental honesty. She hadn't had those thoughts before, or at least she hadn't let herself continue that line of thought before. Was she what was commonly referred to as the "other" woman? Her thoughts were interrupted by Booth's shouts.
"It's none of your goddam business, Camille! In recent years there has been no 'us' and don't think there ever will be. You should know as much as the next anthropologist that everyone needs release. As harsh as it sounds, you were a release. I thought you realized that. I'm sorry that you think I wanted you back. But we're not together, and I thought you knew that we never really were." Booth knew that Bones was about to bolt. He could feel it. He sent pleading glances in her direction. She folded her arms across her chest and nodded. Several minutes late Booth was stuffing his phone angrily back into his pocket.
"I'm sorry to have gotten between you and Cam. I wasn't thinking clearly earlier. Maybe it's best if I go home."
"Bones, don't do this. You didn't get between Cam and me. We really weren't together. It may have felt like it, and it probably looked like it, but there was nothing there. Just lots of sex." He smiled apologetically. She knew that he had to mean it. Otherwise he would not have mentioned the sex. It made him uncomfortable. She realized he was waiting for a response from her.
"I don't know what to say Booth. I'd like to believe you. My mind is telling me that I'm the other woman and I ruined everything fo you in regards to Cam. But you're telling me I didn't. That call didn't sound like it came from a casual sex partner. It sounded like a call from a jealous girlfriend." She stared at him as if the truth would be written on his forehead. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't. "I think it's kind of you to have invited me into your home for the evening, but given the circumstances, I don't think it's appropriate for me to stay." She turned toward the door before he grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stop.
"No. Don't go home tonight. Stay here. It's not wrong. Cam was nothing to me, but apparently I was something to her. I didn't mean to hurt her like that. I thought she'd understand. Seeing us together upset her because she thought we were an item. I should've been clearer from the beginning. I don't understand women." He sighed. It was the truth.
"Booth. I just don't know. I-"
"It's getting late. Stay. Please?"
"It's 8:30. It's not late."
"It's dark."
"I got over my fear of the dark years ago, Booth."
"I drove." He had a point there.
"I can call a taxi."
"Bones, don't be so argumentative all the time. Just stay here tonight." He didn't dare mention again that they both would feel better in each other's company. He didn't want to admit that she was his only fear and his only comfort at the same time.
"Fine. Only because I don't feel like calling a cab and going home to a bunch of empty beer bottles." She knew he had already cleared the bottles away. She wasn't ready to tell him that the only way she felt safe was when he was around.
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Cam was driving around town in a whirlwind of emotions. Anger at Booth for choosing Brennan over her. Anger at Brennan for being the one he chose. Anger at herself for being stupid enough to believe that they were more than a late night release. Sadness over losing him a second time. Disappointment in the opposite sex.
She carelessly parked her car in the garage to her apartment complex, slammed the door, and made her way to the entrance with her heels clicking loudly on the cement. She rode the elevator in silence to her floor and opened her door silently. She pulled her curtains closed quickly before changing into her nightwear. Flopping onto her lush bed, she let herself cry. She let every tear she had ever held for Seely. She cried tears of anger, regret, and emptiness. She could never let the rest of them know that one man had gotten to her so much. She usually knew how to keep her distance. How had he gotten so close?
A/N– I really appreciated your reviews last chapter. I read them all several times through. I also appreciate the confidence that 28 of you displayed that I would continue by adding this story to your alerts list. It really does mean a lot to me. If I ever decided to write anything else for this particular story, it will probably just be an outlet for fluff.
