Disclaimer: I only own the trivial characters not normally seen on the show…
Previously: Crisis averted.
(--)
"What did Penny say?" Temperance asked as she pulled her brown hair back into a floppy bun; she glanced at the bathroom mirror, checking to make sure she didn't look completely grotesque as she exited the tiny room and flicked off the light.
Booth was shifting photos and file folders which were scattered across the bed, standing in sweat pants and a fit White Stripes tee shirt, on the opposite side. He looked up as she stepped into view. She was only wearing a pair of light blue plaid shorts and a white tank top, but she looked even more beautiful than Booth had ever seen her.
"What?" she asked conscious of his stare. She wrapped her arms around her middle and let her eyes fall to the floor.
Booth knew he should look away, he was making her uncomfortable, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the strand of dark hair falling from her loose bun, draped across her eyes. After a moment, brown met blue once again; this time, intensity met hesitancy.
He blinked. He had to. If he didn't break contact now he didn't think he'd be able to do so again. He looked back down at the photographs. He heard Brennan sigh lightly, and couldn't help the smile that spread across his mouth when he caught sight of smooth legs folding underneath her lean body on the opposite side of the bed.
"So…" she began.
"So?" he looked up again.
"What did Penny say?" Temperance repeated.
"Oh, well, she said she didn't know anything about it; but let's face it. She probably knows something," Booth answered.
"I get the feeling that everyone knows something," Brennan agreed.
"Me too, and I do not like it," Booth emphasized this with his hands.
Temperance chuckled for a moment, but her annoyance with the case overtook that.
"Neither do I; I mean it takes one day by cruise ship to reach Puerto Rico. One day. Instead this is taking three because the Captain wants everyone to enjoy the trip that they paid for." She let out a short, sarcastic laugh. "I think they'd much rather get away from the crazy person who shoves people in boilers and let's them burn to death."
"You'd think."
"Three days, Booth! Three days!" she threw up her hands in anger.
Booth knew exactly what she was feeling. He was more annoyed with this case than he'd ever been before; he hated being stonewalled by people who claimed to have authority over him.
Still, as much as he agreed with Brennan, Parker and Izzy had only barely fallen asleep in the next room, and the door was still opened slightly. So he couldn't help but wince when Temperance's voice got an octave louder.
"Bones, I know; I do, trust me. But we can't focus on that. We've got a case to solve," Booth pressed his palms against her upper arms, holding them gently in place.
"And we've only got," she glanced at the bedside clock, "about 34 hours left to do it. When we reach Puerto Rico, whoever did this is going to be gone."
"Then I guess it's a good thing we're stuck on the boat with him, huh?"
"If we can figure out who he is."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Bones," Booth pouted, half-heartedly.
She shoved him on roughly on the shoulder and he laughed.
"Mature, Bones, really," he teased and she rolled her eyes at him.
His laughing faded into a content silence. She smiled warmly at him, holding his sparkling gaze. His grin slipped away as he got lost in her eyes once more. Those deep, cerulean pools which always held so many emotions, locked away from the world.
This was bad. Really, really bad; she knew that. There was Sully to think about after all. He was waiting back in DC for her. And yet, she couldn't help the way her heart started beating faster as Booth's eyes bore into hers. Nor could she help the way her breathing hitched when his lips parted slightly.
She could, however, probably have helped when she leaned forward ever so suddenly and crushed her lips against his perfectly parted ones. She wasn't sure which of them was more surprised.
It took Booth a split second to respond to her and even as his mouth begged her for more, she was pulling away. His eyes were closed. But she wouldn't have called the expression on his face contentment. Perhaps panicked was a better word.
He cracked one eye open, almost painfully. Then the other followed as he met her wide blue ones, practically the size of saucers. She let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, as he swallowed sharply.
"That was a mistake," she stated; her voice was firm, but Booth could read those beautiful blue eyes he loved so much, and they didn't seem so sure.
"Big mistake," he agreed. God, how many times had he said that to a woman? He had always been hoping it would never happen that way with Bones, and yet, here they were.
"Sully--," she began.
He nodded, "Right."
They sat in silence as their gazes shifted away from each other.
She had brought him up; she knew that there was a good reason for it. He was a great guy. There were so many great things about him: a great many in fact. Yup, a lot of great things about Sully: great things that she couldn't remember for the life of her.
She looked back at Booth. He wasn't looking at her. He was looking anywhere but her, humming quietly to himself and bouncing his head almost imperceptibly. As was usually the case, her eyes were drawn to his lips. She could still feel them against hers.
What was I thinking about? She asked herself, Oh, yeah. Sully: Sully is a great guy. He's so…soft. Who would have thought his lips were that soft? Oh, shit.
Booth felt her eyes on him but he refused to meet her gaze. She'd initiated the contact; the next move was hers as well. He wasn't stupid and he definitely didn't want to lose her by pushing her to him what she was thinking. So he waited and God, he was in such deep shit.
There was no way he'd be able to see her with Sully again now. If it had been hard before, it would be near impossible as soon as they got back to DC. Shit. He was so screwed.
She watched him.
"Booth," her voice was tentative, despite her resolve.
He finally met her eyes, looking relieved that she was actually talking, "Yeah?"
Instead of replying, she placed her palm flat against his chest and kissed him again. He was no more prepared the second time around, but it took him less time to respond. He slipped his hand to the base of her neck holding her there.
Her left hand joined the right, pressing against his chest. His free hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against him as both her hands moved around his neck.
Her mouth tasted like Heaven. Soft and velvety: everything he'd ever dreamed it to be. He leaned back against the pillows, pulling her partially on top of him. He knew that they were probably destroying all their notes and paperwork from the case, but he didn't care. All he cared about was the Bones was lying on top of him, curling her tongue deliciously against the roof of his mouth--and, oh, God! Bones is--this is wrong!
As much as it pained him to do so, he moved his hands to her shoulders and pushed her away as gently as he could manage. She pulled back, nodding, this time her eyes closed tightly.
"Bones, that was--."
"I know, I know. It's wrong." She opened her eyes.
He was breathing heavily, "Yeah, wrong. We can't."
They were still so close.
"Definitely," she agreed, "Definitely…can't…"
She was pretty sure he kissed her first this time. But she didn't get a chance to further debate this as Booth's kisses were making rational thought impossible. She gripped tightly to the fabric of his tee shirt and pulled him down as she lay back on the bed.
She felt his fingertips trailing across her bare stomach where her shirt had ridden up. The tiny electric jolts were enough to shock her once more. She let go of his shirt, flattening her palms against his broad chest once more, but this time she pushed against him.
The pressure made him snap back into reality. He sat up, dragging himself away from her. Grabbing her wrists, he helped her back into a sitting position. They stared at one another for a few moments.
"This isn't good," Booth breathed.
"Gee, ya think?" Brennan replied sarcastically.
They were both kneeling, on opposite sides of the bed, staring at one another. She ran her tongue along her bottom lip involuntarily. The movement caused a stirring in his stomach.
"What are we gonna do, Bones?" he looked at her, worry etched into his handsome features.
"We have to do something?"
His eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
Brennan frowned at him, "Yes, I mean, why do we have to do anything?"
"Were you just in the room a minute ago? We can't keep our hands off each other." He couldn't believe she was choosing to ignore this.
"Well," she tried to calm her racing pulse. She couldn't look at him. She kept seeing Sully's face in the back of her mind. And if that didn't freak her out enough, Booth seemed to think that they had to do something about this kissing thing. Temperance was completely comfortable forgetting it ever happened. Except, she knew she wouldn't be able to that.
"This changes things, Bones."
"Why? Why do things have to change?" Her voice was getting higher as she began to panic.
"Bones…" he could see her starting to freak out; it was the one thing he knew was going to happen, whether she was the one to make the first move or not. But he had not been counting on the fact that he would be freaking out too. Mostly because he kind of figured she'd be single when he started sticking his tongue down her throat.
"No, Booth. I--we--I mean--," she leapt off the bed, running her hands through her hair and pacing; suddenly she stopped and turned to him, "Things don't have to change. We have to forget it."
His jaw tightened.
"I can't forget it."
"Booth…"
"I can't Bones."
"You have to," she stated. They fell into silence and he swung his legs off the side, his back to her. He couldn't look at her. It wasn't like he'd never been hurt by a woman before; hell, he'd had a wedding proposal thrown back in his face by his pregnant girlfriend; but Brennan was the one woman he always hoped things would work out with.
She sat down on her edge of the bed, facing Parker's mostly closed door. She'd never hurt this badly before. If she believed that it was scientifically possible for hearts to break, she imagined that this is what it would have felt like. But she couldn't risk losing him. She wouldn't. And she wouldn't hurt Sully either.
"You're not going to leave him, are you?" His voice was hollow, broken. She couldn't speak, couldn't risk opening the flood gates. She wouldn't cry. She couldn't.
But the hesitation was all the response he needed. He nearly threw himself off the bed toward the door.
"I'm going for a walk."
The door slammed behind him. The sound of it but through her and her sharp sobs replaced the silence. Lying back against the pillows, she curled up into a tight ball, as tears ran down her cheeks and soaked the sheets beneath her head.
She had never thought that protecting a partnership would hurt this much.
(--)
He knew what she was doing. But it didn't make it hurt any less. He'd spent the last hour and half walking around the deck of the massive ocean liner, and he hadn't begun to feel any better about the situation.
He was in love with her. There was no simpler way to put it. He was in love with her and she just wanted to be partners. The kissing had been a fluke. A big mistake as he had so eloquently put it.
And yet, for the first time in a long time, he had felt sublimely happy. For a moment, he was content with his life. And then things had fallen apart. He shouldn't have said anything.
But he didn't deserve to be tossed out on this limb. He didn't deserve to have her that close and then ripped away again. And he didn't deserve to be the other guy. He couldn't be.
He opened the stateroom door quietly. Brennan was asleep on the bed, curled into the fetal position, her knees clutched against her chest. He couldn't help it. He moved to her side and pulled the thin blanket up over her long legs.
Watching her sleep, he made a decision.
He wouldn't be the other guy, no matter how much he loved her.
(--)
TBC…
We're down to the wire people. Only thirty-something hours before they reach port and the killer disappears…dun, dun, duh! Lol! R&R please! They feed my soul!