January 2010
Brennan's Apartment
"Bones," Booth breathed out a sigh around her name.
He was still just standing there, watching her watching him, and there was a frantic feeling starting to pulse through Brennan as she waited for the proverbial shoe to drop. Feeling the need to just do something, her fingers idly started picking at the edges of the sleeves of her blouse. There was no fray there...though that was likely to change if nothing stopped her.
Booth's eyes flickered closed for a moment as he took in another deep breath. 'In through the nose, out through the mouth,' his dad's voice echoed in his head. A wave of calm flowed through him as he thought of the steadfast family man that had raised him. Taking a short step closer, he met her questioning eyes.
"Bones," he started and later he would wonder why even then he had persisted with the nickname, "I made a promise to you a few years ago, and I've never once wavered in my intent to keep it. Hopefully, I'm right in thinking that you haven't changed your mind either."
"Of course I haven't, Booth," Brennan smiled reassuringly at him as she thought back to that conversation. Somehow, though, she'd envisioned this moment happening differently. She'd expected something more...emotional. Instead, they were stuck in these locked stances on separate sides of her doorway, almost like cold-warring nations, neither willing to cross the established boundary.
Moisture pricked at the backs of Booth's eyes, though he'd be damned if he'd let himself cry right now. "I'm in love with you, Bones." It was a near whisper when the words finally came, but, at the same time, they were possibly the easiest words he had ever uttered. There was no question in his mind about whether or not he meant them. "And...I know you know that, but I need you to hear me finally say it anyway."
Six small words were all it took to end the cold war in that doorway. Without saying a word, Brennan moved towards him, a hand coming up to cup his cheek. It was such a simple gesture that was also enormous in its significance.
The words came faster now as the warmth of his partner's hand crept into his skin. "I've waited years for this one, single moment. And there were times when I wasn't sure that I could do it without breaking. So many days and cases and moments where I just felt like I was going to explode if I couldn't touch you or hold you or be the one that you turn to in the middle of the night when you have an epiphany or a bad dream or just a question.
"There were so many times when it just didn't seem fair, or where I wondered if we were cheating ourselves or fooling ourselves." Booth's rambling voice was nearly shaking then as he stayed locked in her gaze. "And all I can think of - right now, in this one, single moment - is that every damned second of it was worth it."
Brennan brushed her hand back and across his short locks. Just as her mouth opened to respond, though, he laid his left index finger over her lips and shook his head.
"I know that this all probably seems...silly. You're not a hopeless romantic, and you don't get all mushy and weak-kneed. I don't expect that from you, but you best expect it from me and get used to it."
A chuckle tugged at the corner of her lips, pulling them into a quiet, relaxed smile. If he wanted to rattle through whatever speech he had planned out, then fine. She could humor him for once. He would have to stop talking eventually, and then she could finally have her say.
"Bones," Booth breathed again. "I have wanted to be with you for so long. I can't even really remember a point in our partnership where some semblance of these feelings weren't there, simmering under the surface and just waiting for the chance to emerge."
Even though her gaze stayed fixed on the FBI agent's earnest expression, Brennan noticed his right hand again finding its way to its matching pocket. The small movement and its destination finally caught her mental attention, and suddenly a flash of clarity pushed through her. Her heart rate sped back up, her breathing increased, and every hair on her body felt like it was standing on end.
"I...am in love with you," he repeated, his tone demanding and pleading all in the same breath. "We made a promise to each other, and we've stood by that for two years. Waiting. For me, Bones, there is no question here. I know what I want," he insisted, again repeating himself, but this time from a long-past conversation. "I'm ready."
Booth fingered the cool, smooth metal sitting in his palm as he brought it to face the light. He could see the slightest hint of panic flicker in her eyes, and he immediately grasped her right hand tightly in his left. "I know this is...scary. And maybe it seems sudden. But, in my head, this is already long in the making. Just because what we have hasn't been traditional doesn't mean it wasn't there. Sometimes you have to just take a really hard look, just know what you have, and grab hold of it and never let go."
Suddenly, their eye contact was broken. As shocked as she was, it took Brennan a solid five seconds to realize the reason, and she looked down as he settled on his right knee before her. In those few moments of silence, she searched his face for some hint of doubt mirroring what she knew must be visible on her own face, but all she could find was peace and confidence and reassurance. She didn't have to look inside herself to know that she wasn't feeling a single one of those emotions. Her mind was one swarm of confusion and swirling emotion, but she couldn't focus on that as he started to speak to her again, the calming smile on his face trying to share some of itself with her.
"Temperance Brennan, you have been my Bones since almost day one," Booth started. His voice was no longer shaking, but as he saw her mouth start to open automatically, he hurried out, "And, please, God, don't interrupt my proposal to lecture me on my alpha male tendencies," with a pained, but amused chuckle.
Brennan snapped her mouth shut. The smile that popped up in response to his jest was genuine again, and he had succeeded finally in passing some of his calm to her. It wasn't through any specific words, but instead in the same way that he always relaxed her - by being himself.
As some of the tension seeped out of her, her eyes fell from his face to her hand that he still clutched in his own. She could feel the warmth passing back and forth between their skin, and the thought occurred to her that maybe, just maybe, they could do this. Lifting her chin, she met his laughing eyes once more and waited for him to continue.
Clearing his throat quietly, Booth tried to pick up from where he had left. "Like I said, you've been mine. But there isn't anything 'alpha male' about that statement, because the truth is that you've had me just as long. I've been yours. What we've had is a partnership where we shared the burdens together. We are the epitome of a complimenting relationship. Neither of us can do everything on our own, but put us together and we make things happen. Pair our skills and talents, and we become unstoppable.
"And now, as our working partnership comes to its natural end, it's time to let our partnership find new roots. We'll share our lives like we've shared our jobs. We'll make decisions like we've solved cases. We'll live as we've worked. Together."
There was a pause, just the slightest hesitation, as Booth swallowed past the lump growing in his throat. "Bones..." he asked quietly, "will you marry me?"
The silence this time hung between them as their gazes stayed locked together, her hand held firmly in his. Booth could hear his heart pound once, and then twice in his ears, before her eyes slid shut.
"Yes," Brennan accepted, her eyes closed against the surge of emotion trying to break free. She opened them in time to see the dazzling smile burst across her partner's - 'No,' she corrected herself, 'fiance's' - face.
Booth deftly switched which hand he was holding and slowly, carefully slipped the ring onto her left ring finger. They both took a moment to stare at it, trying to wrap their minds around the momentous moment, before he pushed up from his kneeling position and snagged her around the waist.
To her surprise, the first thing he did wasn't kiss her, but instead he pulled her tightly against his body. One hand tucked into her hair and the other around her waist as he just held her, silently breathing her in. "I love you, Bones."
"I know," Brennan laughed back. "I think you've said it enough times that I've caught on by now." He pulled back just enough to freeze her with a sardonic glare. As she continued, though, the look fell away from his face. "I love you too, Booth."
Finally, Booth pressed forward, his lips colliding with hers. The pounding in their chests coalesced into one rhythm of sound as they kissed for the first time. It was gentle and loving and hungry and a thousand other things all wrapped into one.
When she pulled back after what felt like hours, Brennan flashed a cheeky grin at the man before her. "Sooo," she drew out the word, her tone laughing under her words. "Now are you ready to come inside?"
Booth's answering smirk was all the answer she needed. "Definitely."
