I am so incredibly sorry it has taken me so long to update. I've had so much school work lately I haven't even had time to think about updating. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bones.
After Brennan had accepted Booth's offer for help, they sat at Booth's kitchen table in complete silence, except for the sound of the turning of newspaper pages as Brennan and Booth alternated reading the different sections. The silence was broken by the ring of Booth's cell phone.
"Booth," he answered.
After about 30 seconds of silence on his part, he spoke again, "I'll be right there."
Booth shut his phone and looked at Brennan, "I have to go into work. Will you be okay here alone for a little bit?"
Brennan slightly rolled her eyes without even noticing. It was an automatic reaction when Booth showed concern over whether or not she could take care of herself, "Yes, Booth," she said.
"Alright, I'll be back as soon as I can, don't go anywhere."
"I can't, you drove me here," Brennan said.
"Right," said Booth as he grabbed his coat, "See you in a bit," he said before he walked out the door.
Brennan went back to Booth's bedroom where her bag was and pulled out her laptop. Brennan noted what a nice gesture it was that Angela had even packed it for her, considering Angela would normally do anything to get Brennan to cease working. She opened it and turned it on, and continued working on her latest book. After a few hours of typing, Booth returned. Brennan looked up from the computer screen.
"A case?" she asked Booth.
"Nope, just had to finish up some paperwork before a case gets to court," Booth replied, "How are you feeling?"
"Still tired, but definitely better than a few days ago."
Booth smiled, "Glad to hear it."
"I think I'm ready to go home now, Booth."
Booth nodded his head, "Alright, Bones."
When they arrived at Brennan's apartment, she opened the door and entered with Booth following closely behind. She put her bag down and hung up her coat and slowly walked to the center of the living room. Booth hung up his coat and when he noticed that Brennan had stopped walking he came up behind her and put his arm on her shoulder.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I just … I don't know how to go about doing this."
"What do you mean exactly?"
"I mean, what do I keep, what do I get rid of? I don't feel like I should get rid of anything. It's like acting as if he was never here," Brennan said sadly.
"Bones," Booth began as Brennan turned around to face him, "There are some things that you need to keep; things he gave to you or pictures to remind you, but no one needs to be reminded of the people we've lost every second of everyday, it's too overwhelming. You need to be able to come home and not be reminded every second of what happened. It doesn't mean you act is if he was never here. They are just things," Booth took his pointer finger and touched Brennan's chest, "All the reminders you need are right there, in your heart, and they'll always be there."
Brennan smiled slightly.
"I know a good place to start," Booth started, "When Chris moved in, was there anything he brought that you just thought you would never put in your apartment if he wasn't there?"
Brennan pointed to a sculpture made out of metal and other random materials in the corner of the living room.
"Oh my God, that's …."
"I know," Brennan interrupted, "he had a very eccentric taste in art."
"Eccentric? I'd go with bad."
Brennan laughed as she smiled a full smile, "You're right, it's bad."
"Alright so how about we start with the art and go from there?"
Brennan nodded her head in agreement.
After they had finished removing the pieces of art that were not of Brennan's taste, they took a seat on the couch.
"You hungry?" Booth asked Brennan.
"I could eat."
"How about I take a run to Sid's and get us some Chinese?"
"Okay," Brennan responded.
Booth got up and grabbed his coat, "Be back in a bit," he said before he left the apartment.
Booth returned 20 minutes later with Chinese food in hand, to find Brennan wasn't where he left her. He put the food down on her kitchen table and set off to find her. When he did, she was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at an open dresser drawer.
Brennan saw Booth out of the corner of her eye; she began to speak, "His clothes. I thought I'd I … But I …"
Booth walked over and once again gently placed his hand on her shoulder, "How about we eat and then I'll take care of the clothes?"
Brennan looked up with a stray tear or two making their way down her face, "Okay," she said as she wiped them away.
They sat at Brennan's kitchen table eating their dinner in silence until Booth opened his mouth, "Thank you," were the words that escaped.
"For what?" Brennan asked confused.
"For asking for help."
"I didn't really ask for it, I just accepted it," Brennan replied.
"Either way, I'm glad you did," stated Booth.
"Me too."
"How about you clean up and I'll go take care of what I said I'd take care of?"
Brennan nodded as Booth took off in the direction of her bedroom.
After Brennan had finished cleaning up and washing the dishes, she walked to her bedroom and stood in the doorway. She saw Booth staring at one of the pictures on Chris' dresser.
"Wow, Bones," he said, "this picture."
"What?"
"You look ... hooh."
"I don't know what means."
"You look hot, Bones."
Brennan blushed, "Thank you. That was at a Jeffersonian banquet a few months ago."
"I don't know if I've ever seen you look that happy."
Brennan flashed Booth a slight smile.
Booth picked up the bag of Chris' clothes and walked over to where Brennan was standing with the picture in his hand, he handed it to her.
"This is the image you should go to sleep with at night. You should remember that night, how happy you were. Remember his life, not what he may have looked like after. If you go to sleep with this image in your head, I don't see how you could have anymore nightmares," Booth stated.
"Thank you, Booth."
"I'll crash on your couch tonight."
"Booth, you don't have to do that."
"It's the first night you're spending back in your apartment. Even if you don't have a nightmare, it still might be hard. Sometimes just knowing you're not alone, it can help."
Brennan surrendered, "I have a guest room, Booth."
"I know, the couch is a lot less maintenance, and I'm a low maintenance kind of a guy."
Brennan smiled as Booth walked out of the bedroom. She got changed, and settled into bed for what would be her first full night's sleep in weeks.
In the next chapter I plan to start moving the Booth/Brennan relationship so stay tuned for that. Let me know what you thought of this chapter and review. It would really mean a lot to me. :)
