AN: I love Brennan and Angela friendships within stories. I really do. :D Thanks to all of you who have favorited, alerted, alerted me, favorited me, etc. etc. because of this story. Your reviews always make me happy, and I kinda apologize for the tears I brought out of some people...but not really. xD It's a good thing...kinda.
It was close to midnight that Friday night when Brennan finally emerged from her home.
She didn't speak or offer any visible emotion as the sliding glass doors opened to her whim, and the sterilized smell of the lab burned in her nose.
She knew she had nowhere else to go, and the all too familiar feelings of being an orphaned child settled raw below her heart.
She was alone in this world again; but she blamed her whole self for that.
She pushed away the one person who…loved her, and now she stood; frozen, below the towering metal columns that housed the reason she found so comforting.
"Hey sweetie."
"Ange," she gasped, whipping around in alarm "What are you still doing here?"
"Waiting for you," the tired artist said, climbing the steps of the dimly lit platform. "I know you well enough that a dark and quiet lab is a hot spot for an upset Brennan."
"Upset?" Temperance scoffed weakly, unable to meet her friend's eyes "I'm not upset."
"Then why has your phone been off all day? Why did you not answer the door when I came over and heard you moving in the bedroom?" Angela pleaded, trying to stop herself to respect Booth's wishes, but failing miserably "Why is your whole body stiff? And why are your eyes bloodshot and puffy?"
Brennan quickly became overwhelmed and violently rubbed at her temples, gritting her teeth and shaking her head "Angela, you're asking too many questions."
"Booth was here sweetie," Angela confessed, the reddened state of her eyes finally reaching Brennan's radar.
"Were you crying?" the anthropologist whispered almost inaudibly, her arms wrapping tight around herself to fend away the cold beginning to rest in her marrow.
"It's a lot more heartbreaking when you see the toughest man you've ever met reduced to tears."
"Do not guilt trip me," Brennan spat, her eyes blazing behind her heated tears.
"You know sweetie," Angela whispered, clasping her friend's face between her hands, fingers working to rid the tears from her alabaster skin "I love you, I really do, and above all I respect your decisions, but I don't like this one."
"Then go ahead," Brennan whispered weakly, her hands rising in the air "tell me how much I've screwed up this time. Tell me how much I hurt him. Tell me all the things that have been stalking my mind since the moment they were uttered."
Angela brought her friend into her arms and hugged her tightly, allowing silent tears to fall onto her shoulder while running her fingers soothingly through her best friend's hair. "Sometimes, hugs work too."
"W-why?" Temperance mumbled, sighing as Angela soothed and comforted her.
"Booth," Angela stated in a bare whisper. "Booth asked me to keep what I know about what happened to myself, and to not pester you on the subject."
"He told you that?"
Brennan's weakened smile broke Angela's heart, and her thumbs once again moved tears from her pale skin.
"I don't know Ange," she quoted, kissing Brennan's cheek "I just hope that, whatever happens, she ends up happy."
"I don't understand," Brennan pleaded, her hands holding tight to Angela's elbows "I don't understand any of this."
"You will," Ange assured, smiling encouragingly despite the sadness she still felt for these two. "I promise you. One day, you will."
"What if I realize something important too late?"
"What exactly do you think you're going to realize sweetie?"
"I…I don't really know."
"When push comes to shove, you'll realize everything in time. Even if you believe it's too late, just know it's never too late."
"I don't know what that means," Brennan whispered, a weak and pitiful smile on her lips.
"It means; you don't need to be here," Angela said, smiling and turning Brennan towards the platform steps.
"I have work to do Ange."
"It can wait," she whispered, holding her friend's hand tight between hers. "I know you and I can tell you haven't eaten at all or slept today."
"I can't sleep Angela," Brennan offered, eyes wide with sadness "I've tried, but every time I close my eyes, I see pain, every single ounce of his pain."
"Sometimes, you just have to deal with that, or pop a few pills to make sleep for you."
A soft chuckle left Brennan's lips, and she weakly allowed Angela to lead her to her car.
"You're going to stay with me, no arguments," Angela ordered, opening the passenger side door and smiling as Brennan slipped into the car without a word in protest.
"Chinese?" Angela asked when she slipped into the car beside her.
"No, not Chinese, not Thai, no diner," she whispered, shaking her head and scratching her cheek thoughtfully "Not yet."
"Homemade?" she offered, trying as hard as she could to help her naïve heartbroken friend.
"As long as you let me help," Brennan agreed, smiling gently.
"Deal."
*****
"Spaghetti sound okay?"
"Sure," Brennan whispered, pulling the collider and a pot from the cabinets.
"Do you have a special secret recipe you want me to use?"
"No," another whisper, barely heard over the water being poured into the large pan.
"Do you wanna watch a movie?"
"I don't care."
"Sweetie, you're killing me."
"I'm sorry," Brennan whispered, her fingers running under her swollen and incredibly sore eyes "I'm just…not myself."
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Angela asked, placing the lid on the pan and turning to see Brennan placing the pasta in the cabinets.
"Maybe later Angela, but not right now."
"Let's watch something funny," Angela suggested loudly, grabbing Brennan's arm and pulling her into the living room.
"Okay, but what about the spaghetti?"
"I'll watch the food," Ange said, opening one of her favorite movies and putting it in the DVD player. "And you watch this."
"The Proposal?" Brennan whispered, chewing nervously on her bottom lip.
"Yes, it is genius," Angela smiled, turning the living room lights off and throwing a fleece blanket in her direction.
Her nod was weak and she curled in the blanket, sore eyes squinting as the damn romantic comedy folded out.
*****
Brennan sniffled beside her best friend as the movie ended, her voice small when it left her lungs "I said no to protect him."
"You sure you want to talk about this now sweetie?" Ange asked; turning towards her blanket cocooned friend.
"I don't know," Brennan whispered in a tear laden voice "But now will be no less beneficial than later."
"Alright," Angela nodded, reaching out and clasping her hand again "What were you protecting him from"
"Me," she choked "I-I can't lose him, and if we get into something and it doesn't work out…"
"Sometimes you have to take that leap Bren."
"You did with Hodgins," Brennan observed "and you two aren't together anymore."
"Just because we aren't together sweetie doesn't mean nothing is there."
Temperance tilted her head and blinked her eyes tight "What do you mean?"
"Love is crazy," Angela admitted, running her thumb across the back of Brennan's hand "and even though Hodgins and I aren't together, we have so much history, and we were so in love, it's never going to disappear."
"Crazy?"
"Yeah," Angela said; a small sad smile on her face as she nodded and her eyes bore into Brennan's "Straight insanity."
"What all did Booth tell you?" Brennan asked, eyes squinted in paranoia.
"Nothing," she admitted "I knew from the second that first tear dropped down his cheek something happened between you two."
"So no distinct and specific details were shared to you?"
"No," Ange said "Why, what's the significance."
"Insanity," Brennan whispered, wiping her tears away, and shaking her head "Angela, what am I going to do?"
"I don't know sweetie," Angela whispered in return, squeezing her knee in comfort "this is something even I can't help you with."
"But you are open-hearted, I'm not. Please, just, teach me how to be that way," Brennan pleaded "Please."
"Brennan, the people you fight to put in jail are closed hearted, they have no heart; and you sweetie, have one of the biggest hearts a person can have, you just, need to know how to use it."
"How do I use it? I don't understand," she whispered, tears snaking into her lips and bringing a sweet salty taste to flood her mouth.
"You're an anthropologist," Angela said, rubbing her knee again "you study the overall human experience. You're a genius and a professional in the overall human experience, but you don't know how to use your heart?"
Brennan shrugged and shook her head "I…I don't know, I just don't know how…"
"Everyone does," Angela assured, standing up and pulling the blanket away from Brennan "It's almost 3 in the morning sweetie, you should get some sleep."
"I told you earlier I can't sleep."
"Here, take some Benadryl then," Angela said, taking two of the small pink pills and placing them in Brennan's hand.
"I don't like-"
"Ssh," Ange interrupted, handing Brennan's drink over and making her take the two pills before helping her up and moving her down the hall and into the guest room.
"Let your mind wander," Angela said as she gave Brennan one of her night shirts "Think of all the couples you've seen, and of your semi-serious relationships. Think of all the stories that people have said about being in love, and try and find your answer. You're a genius; you just need to use your brain."
"But," Brennan whispered, taking the shirt and running her fingers over it nervously "everyone has told me to follow my heart."
"Start up top," Angela said, touching her friend's head, and moving her finger to point to her heart "and move downwards."
"I don't-"
"Create an experiment that will lead you to conclusions and hypothesizes as to how to 'open your heart'," Angela said, squeezing Brennan's shoulder gently before moving to the door and flicking the light off "remember that people think deeper in their sleep."
"It's almost impossible to produce productive thoughts while sleeping," Temperance stated, standing up and sliding her jeans over her hips.
"Getting into the squinty mood," Angela nodded, smiling and tapping the wall "you're on your way."
