Chapter 10:
The atmosphere in the SUV was …tender. Each was lost in his or her thoughts, and if Brennan could think of the right thing to say, she would have. She knew better than to try however; she often ended up saying the wrong, and sometimes unkind thing; today had proven that.
Meanwhile, Booth was trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened in Sweets' office. On the way there, he'd had a whole speech planned for Bones to hear, but now he wasn't sure if she'd want to hear it. She hadn't said anything yet, and he didn't want to be the first. He actually enjoyed the silence a bit, and it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, just special and soft.
Before long, they had reached the Jeffersonian.
"Bones", Booth cleared his throat and started over. "Um…would you like me to give you a ride home, or drop you off at your car?"
"What?..oh, um…..wait, what did you say, Booth?"
"Would you like me to take you to your house, or do you want me to take you to your car?" Booth had to admit he thought it was kind of cute when Bones was flustered. She blushed a little.
"Um…my car is fine. Booth…..um…well, would you still… I mean, do you still?"
Booth parked the SUV next to her car, shut off the engine and turned to her.
"Booth, doyoustillhavesomethingtosaytome?doyoustillwanttocomeover?"Brennan breathed out in a rush.
Booth was silent for a minute. Did he really want to say what he had in mind? Yes, he told himself; it needed to be said.
"Yeah, Bones, I'd like that. But I don't want to cause any trouble for you, so I can just pick up some take out or something."
"No, Booth. I'll make mac and cheese for you. I still want to hold up my end of the bargain."
"Alright, Bones, I'm going to run home and change, and I'll see you at your place in a bit."
"Okay…Booth…"
"Yeah, Bones?"
"Uh….thanks for the ride."
With that, Brennan hopped out of the SUV, entered the safety of the privacy of her own car, started it, and left the parking garage, still absorbed in her thoughts.
An hour or so later, she was just finishing setting the table. Brennan had since had time to compose herself and give herself a rational lecture on what had transpired in Sweets' office. Obviously, he'd been fishing to try to get them to admit to some sort of romantic attachment, and thankfully, they hadn't fallen for it. She laughed when she remembered Booth holding the copy of Cosmo. 'Admit it Bren, you thought about what it would be like to use your mouth on him!'
Brennan gasped and nearly dropped the hot platter she was carrying. She hated when she heard Angela's voice in her head.
Before she could compose herself, the doorbell rang.
As she opened it, she was surprised to feel a quick flutter in her stomach. 'It's just Booth' she rationalized to herself. She was surprised again when she saw Booth's eyes were closed.
"Booth, what's the matter?"
"What…oh, I guess I didn't realize I'd closed my eyes, Bones."
"What?? That's not rational, Booth."
Booth just laughed and walked past her through the doorway. The truth was that he'd been feeling nervous, and he thought one look into her eyes would give him away, so he'd closed them to delay the inevitable. Who knew her resorting to rationalities would do the trick?
"Smells great,
Bones."
"Thanks Booth, I think everything's ready. Do you
want to eat first, or talk to me first?"
"Up to you, Bones."
"Well, I did promise that I'd cook you dinner in exchange for the hint, so in theory, I owe you the dinner as payment for the hint, and therefore, I should wait until after the food is consumed before expecting to hear what you have to say. Although, the hint you gave wasn't much of a hint, unless you plan to kiss me again, and you were just giving me warning, and in that case, I guess I should tell you that " "Bones!", Booth interrupted.
"Let's…let's just eat, then I'll tell you what's up, okay? We can talk about something else while we eat."
"Well, how will I know what the something else is, if I don't know what the original "is" is?"
"Bones" Booth sighed, "just, I'll start, okay?"
"Okay"
"So….this really looks great. Did you use the same recipe as last time?"
"Yes, and…well…I remembered that I had a frozen pie crust in the freezer, so I made an apple pie for dessert. I hope that's okay."
"Okay? Bones, I think I've died and gone to heaven. Although I'm pretty sure in Heaven they won't have human skulls around or be playing "Cat Power." Booth teased.
"Haha..very funny..eat before it gets cold."
"Yes, ma'am."
Booth and Brennan once again fell into a comfortable silence. When dinner and dessert were over, Brennan asked Booth if he wanted to move to the living room to be more comfortable. He agreed.
They both sat on her couch. Brennan waited for Booth to say what was on his mind.
"Look, Bones. Well, I'm not really sure how to say this. You know that whole "alpha male" stuff we've been going around about the past week or so?"
"Yes"
"Well, I want you to know that I'm sorry. I felt like my pride was on the line, and I was trying to prove something to myself, and well, you sort of got caught in the middle."
"I got caught in the middle between you and your pride?"
"Well, when you put it that way, it doesn't make much sense, but yeah, I guess you could say that."
"Booth, you kissed me."
"Yeah, but you kissed me first, I was just trying to even the score. Once on the cheek, and once…" Booth cleared his throat, "once under the mistletoe."
"But Booth, there
wasn't mistletoe in your office when you kissed me."
"Yeah,
I know, and like I said, I'm sorry. I was out of line."
"So what you're saying is that the only reason you kissed me is to even the score?"
"Yeah, Bones, that about sums it up."
"Booth, do you remember this morning when you said you wanted to talk to me, but you wanted to go somewhere I could leave if I needed to?"
Booth realized his mistake. "Yeah, Bones."
"Well, it's kind of hard for me to walk away from my own apartment, isn't it?"
Booth got up from the couch and started for the door. "Yeah, Bones. I'm sorry…I'll go now…um…thanks again for dinner. I really, really like you…I mean the food…I really really liked it, your cooking, I like your cooking."
Booth opened her door to leave.
"Booth, wait."
He turned around to find Brennan close to him.
"So what you're saying is that if I kissed you again, you'd have to kiss me back to even the score?"
"What?? Look, Bones, we're even…I don't thinkoooff!" Booth was silenced by Brennan's lips on his. She wove her fingers through his hair. Somehow he managed to keep his hands to his side.
"Well, Booth?' Brennan said breathlessly, "are you going to even the score?"
Booth leaned in, smirking, so his forehead was resting against hers. His lips were a millimeter from hers, close enough he could practically feel the heat.
She searched his face. His expression changed from satisfied to tormented.
"What?" she whispered, "what is it?"
He leaned back enough to see her whole face. "You're so beautiful." He swallowed,
"And my best friend. I think I'd better go."
He stepped back to the hall.
Brennan stood frozen.
"You should go in; it's kind of cold out here." Booth told her somehow both concerned and cautious.
"Is everything okay?"
"Fine, just fine…you?" he replied.
'Yeah, I'm fine. Um…see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, maybe Bones. Hey, take care, and don't work too hard.", and with that, he was gone.