Laugh and Cry (part two)
A few days after the ball, Booth was still out of sorts. He hadn't mentioned her new relationship at all and neither had she, so he was almost hoping that it all would just fade away. But he couldn't help but notice that his partner had been smiling more lately, which wasn't something that made him particularly happy, so their bickering hadn't really abated.
"Booth, I don't understand why we had to go all the way out there. It was just a waste of our time." The woman in question was currently protesting as they walked back in to the Jeffersonian. They'd gone out to a rural area in Virginia to investigate a body found in an old barn. It hadn't been a priority case and truth be told, they hadn't exactly been assigned to the case, but Booth had jumped at the opportunity to get Bones out of the lab for a while. "It wasn't even a murder!"
"I know Bones, but we didn't know that before we got there. Just chalk it up to an experience. At least we got to have a nice morning drive in the country." He said, trying to coax a smile out of her. A smile specifically for him. When a small one appeared on her face, he felt his heart swell with pride. See that, he thought, I can still get that reaction. He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice that his partner had stopped inside the doorway to her office until he all but ran into her back. "Bones…"
Then he saw exactly what made her stop in her tracks. Her office was bathed in flowers. Gerbera daisies in every color brightly decorated every surface, some in vases, some tucked into pencil holders, some laying flat on her desk and couch. They were everywhere.
Slowly she moved into her office, a look of pure wonder on her face as she went up to each and every vase, smelling and touching the flowers. A smile unlike any he'd ever seen before spread across her face like sunlight, mesmerizing him and making him move unconsciously toward her as if pulled by some magnetic force. Until a voice from the doorway made him stop dead in his tracks.
"Do you like it?" Hodgins asked softly from the doorway, looking a bit anxious until Brennan turned around and he was able to see her smile. Then an answering one, just as bright, appeared on his face. "Question asked and answered, huh?" He said to Booth, apparently unaware of the unhappy look on the agent's face.
"Jack, they're beautiful." She said softly, moving toward the bug man. Booth's expression turned into a full scowl when he heard her speak. He'd never heard her call him anything but Hodgins before. "But why?"
"Because it's my birthday."
"Yes, I know, we have dinner plans tonight to celebrate, remember?" She asked and then continued after he nodded, her confusion evident in her eyes. "But I don't understand why it being your birthday means I get flowers. You should be the one getting the presents."
"T, I just did. Nothing has made me happier today than seeing you enjoy these flowers. Your smile is my perfect gift." He said softly, reaching out to cup her face with his hand.
"Jack, I don't know.. no one's ever… I… thank you." She said with a little laugh at her own incoherence, throwing her arms around the scruffy man's neck and pressing her body into his.
Booth felt a rage unlike anything he'd ever experienced before rise up from his stomach. No, rage wasn't the right emotion. Or at least it wasn't the only emotion. Rage had never made him feel like he was going to lose not only his breakfast but everything else he'd eaten that week. Rage had never made him want to curl up a ball and hide like he was feeling now. Rage didn't make want the earth to swallow him whole the way this did. This was something else, something deeper and more complex. Standing there, watching them embrace, he felt as if his soul were shattering.
He muttered a quick excuse about needing to get back to work (not that either of them noticed his leaving) and walked out to his car. Shoulders slumped, head down, he somehow managed to make it into the driver's seat before giving in to the tears that had burned behind his eyes. After today, he knew this was getting serious and he couldn't just wait around for things to fall apart between the two scientists. He couldn't just stand on the sidelines waiting anymore. He'd already waited too long and made too many mistakes (like dating Julie). If he wanted this, if he wanted her, he was going to have to fight. Lucky for him, that was something he knew how to do and do well. And while he might not have his opponent's money or brilliance, he had something Hodgins did, couldn't have—four years with her at his side, four years of knowing her better than he knew himself, four years of being the one she turned to whenever something happened for good or bad. And most of all, four years of loving Temperance Brennan.