I don't own any part or characters of Bones

Chapter Two- The Bottom of the Bottle

As the day started and the sunlight crept in through the window, Brennan rolled over and was hit with a wave of nausea and pounding in her skull. A hangover, great she thought. She reached for the pills and water on her nightstand, thank you Angela. How much had she drunk last night? She remembered finishing the first bottle and hazily remembered maybe finishing a second bottle. Ever since Christine was born, she hadn't drunk more than 2 glasses in a sitting. As rough as she felt right now, she missed the numbness the wine brought. Now in addition to feeling sad and miserable she had a headache from dehydration.

She couldn't bring herself to face work today. It was Friday, she would take the weekend to get herself together and then Monday she would return to her professional self. She was normally so good as compartmentalizing, but Booth was her rock. Rocks are supposed to be stable and he had always made her feel safe. But now he was lying to her face and putting their daughter in danger. Her whole world was turned upside down and she felt like she did when she was 15 and her parents left her. Technically, this time she was the one who made Booth left, but she felt like he had left them symbolically when he chose to gamble and lie.

She texted Cam, saying she was sick and wouldn't be coming in. Then she texted Max and asked him to keep Christine until Sunday. He was happy and excited to get extra time with his granddaughter. Brennan was happy to have some time to herself to wallow in her emotions. Before Booth she was not a very emotional person, but he made her feel things and he made her open her heart to him. And then he broke it.

The Advil was making her headache better but her brain was making her heart worse. She needed to feel numb again like last night. She had a theory that more alcohol would make her feel better. She made her way to the bar in the living room to test her hypothesis. Booth's Aged Whiskey that he was saving for when the Flyer's won the Stanley Cup seemed like a good choice. She knew it would piss him off and usually she wasn't a vindictive person but she didn't feel like herself at the moment. She felt like a new person that didn't care about anyone else at the moment. She broke the seal on the bottle and poured herself a shot. She drank it quick, it was smooth, Booth had picked a very nice bottle. She poured another and then another. Brennan drank the rest of the morning away and kept drinking into the afternoon.

Hours had passed, Brennan had the stereo blasting when she thought she heard a knock. She tried to make it to the door but stumbled and fell. The front door opened. Brennan tried to stand but fell again, this time laughing as she fell. She laughed and laughed as someone tried to grab her arm. This person tried to help her stand but she couldn't stop laughing. The laughter slowly turned to tears. Brennan couldn't control it, a second ago she was laughing and now hot tears streamed down her face and she howled with sobs. She couldn't breathe. She finally looked at the face of the person next to her. His face was worried and pained. He was trying to embrace her. He was saying something to her but she couldn't understand. She slapped his hands away. She didn't need his help. It was his fault, all of this pain she felt. He made her love him. He should have let her be alone.

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"Where's Bones?" Booth asked Cam.

He was standing in the doorway of her office. She noticed he was wearing the same thing he had on when they flew home from Iran.

"Shouldn't you know where your wife is Seeley? Why do you look like you haven't slept?"

"I came to talk to her and she's not in her office."

Booth ignored Cam's questions. He had been trying to call and text Bones since she kicked him out last night. He couldn't believe how fast everything had happened. She had asked him to be honest and he lied to her. Now he knew that she knew he was lying. She knew everything. He had risked their family to gamble. He risked losing the love of his life. He had put his family in danger with Jason threatening them. He wanted to kill Jason, but he was the one that started gambling again. And when Bones gave him the chance to come clean, he had lied. He wasn't ready to admit he was losing control again. The look on her face when he lied and the pain in her voice as she told him to leave their home had broken him. He left their house and went straight to a meeting. He went to another meeting this morning and got set up with a new sponsor. He had come to see Bones in person as soon as he could. He would make this right with Bones. He would get her trust back, but first he needed to talk to her.

"She said she was sick and wouldn't be in until Monday. What's going on?"

"Nothing Cam."

Booth walked away, he didn't have time to get into details with Cam. Bones never took days off and she hadn't been sick last night. Booth realized the situation was even more serious than he thought. Bones always prided herself on being able to compartmentalize professional and personal but this morning she didn't come to work. He knew he needed to go home and check on her. She probably wouldn't even open the door but he had to try. Booth walked in the parking garage and was almost to his car when he saw Angela walking toward him. Great, I guess Bones told her.

"Booth how's Brennan?"

"She's not here. I'm going home to check on her now." Booth was surprised Angela didn't know Bones had called off.

"I'm not surprised she didn't come in. I was with her last night and I bet she has a pretty killer hangover this morning."

"Hangover? Bones doesn't drink more than 2 glasses."

"Booth she drank 2 bottles of wine last night. I've never seen her so sad."

Booth's heart sank. He thought he had seen how hurt Bones was before she made him leave but apparently it got worse. He needed to see her right now.

"I need to go check on her. Thanks for being there for her when I couldn't be."

"Booth nobody is perfect. Just go make things right with our girl okay."

Booth raced to their house. He looked at the clock, 1:30, and hoped that her hangover was better by now. When he got to the door he hesitated. It was his house, their home, but last night Bones made it clear he wasn't welcome. He decided to knock. He knocked twice, three times. He pounded the door. He could hear the stereo blasting, way louder than Bones would have it. He started to worry and decided to just go in. He opened the door and saw Bones on the floor. He rushed over to her, worried she was hurt. She was laughing. Then he smelled the whiskey on her breath. He looked up at their bar and saw the nearly empty bottle. A bottle he knew she had just opened today. He couldn't believe how drunk she was, he had never seen his partner like this. He tried to help her stand but she wouldn't let him. She slapped at his hands.

"Bones it's me. Let me help you up."

She looked at him for the first time since he came into the house and her laughs turned into sobs. It sounded like a wounded animal. Booth gasped at the unnatural noise coming from his wife. He tried to wrap his arms around her. He needed to comfort her. He needed to make this better.
He was able to get her to the couch. Her eyes were bloodshot and red from crying. She reeked of alcohol. In the chaos happening since he got home from Iran, he hadn't seen their daughter yet. Bones said last night that Max had her but now she would need picked up from Preschool soon.

"Bones, I need to go get Christine. Why don't you go lay down."

"Yyyou don't n-need to do anything for us. Max has her until Sunday. You jjust need to leave me alone." Bones pushed at Booth.

"Please let me apologize. I know I lied to you last night and I know I've been lying. I went to a meeting as soon as I left last night. I'm so sorry about Jason coming here. I will keep going to meetings every day I promise."

"Your promises are pfffttt" Bones stuck her tongue out.

How had Booth gotten in. One minute she was on the floor and the next he was here. He wasn't supposed to be here. She wiped the tears from her face and tried to stand. She fell back into the couch.

"Whoa, easy Bones. Just stay here on the couch."

"Stop! I'm not your respons-responsibility anymore. You made me love you and then you..." Bones couldn't remember what she was saying. She felt like her eyelids weighed 10 pounds each. She needed to lay down.

Although her words hurt, Booth knew she didn't mean them. She was drunker than he knew she could get. He pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and covered her up. She fell asleep fast. He wanted to stick around and make sure she was okay. He walked over to the bar and looked at the bottle that had caused the damage. He realized it was the special bottle he had been saving. He wasn't even a little mad, he deserved much worse for what he put Bones through. He was surprised because this was not the woman he loved. She never drank this much, she never missed work, she rarely let Christine stay away for one night let alone a whole weekend and she would never do something to purposely hurt someone like drinking his special bottle. The damage he had caused to her heart was worse than he imagined. He knew she was hurt when he lied but he hadn't realized how hurt. She was unraveling. She had told him that he made her feel like she finally had stability. He felt pride in her words. After all of these years, she fully gave herself, heart and soul to him. And he messed everything up.

Booth gathered all the alcohol behind the bar and the wine from the fridge and hid it in the garage behind some boxes. He didn't think Bones needed to be drinking anymore right now. Next, he showered and shaved and got dressed. He hadn't slept much since getting home from Iran but he didn't think he could nap, so he tidied up the house and did some laundry instead. He was trying to make up for everything while Bones slept on the couch. He called Max and asked to talk to Christine. He told his daughter he missed her and that he was happy she was having fun with Grandpa. He told her mommy was working but she would call her before she went to bed. It was almost 5 at this point and Booth needed to leave for a meeting. He kissed Bones forehead as she was still sleeping on the couch.

"I'll check on you later Bones. I love you."