Brennan found Angela in her office. When the artist did not notice her standing in the doorway, she cleared her throat.
Angela looked up calmly. "You're in early. Why are you in early?" She put down what she was working on and leaned back in her chair.
"I told him I loved him, Ange."
"I am honestly not surprised. I knew there was serious talk going on out there. And?" She looked at the strain apparent on Brennan's face, and realized there was a problem. She thought to herself that being the self appointed guardian of their coupling was becoming a very time intensive job. "Sweetie, what did he say?"
"He thanked me, and told me I was surprising..." Brennan said it matter-of-factly, but her best friend could tell that she was hurt.
"That's it? I mean, that is very polite, and accurate, but....nothing else?" She was already formulating her plan of action for when she talked some sense into Booth.
"I think I scared him Ange. It was too soon, and there is too much we have to work out still."
"Do you love him?"
"Yes."
"...then it is absolutely not too soon. I watched you guys out there, so much that I scared Jack a little. He loves you. He does. Maybe he just wanted his own thunder, you know? Maybe you stole his, and he didn't want to just finish with a 'me too'. That has to be it." She could see that she was getting through to her, that she had erased a little bit of doubt. She thought to herself that for Booth's sake, that had better be the explanation.
"Ange, are you sure?"
Angela stood up and hugged her friend. "I am so sure that I am starting to scare myself a little. I know you guys way to well."
Booth was waiting in her office when she and Angela finished talking. She sees Booth at her desk through the open blinds of her office windows. She stops at the door, and leans against the frame.
"That was some date."
"I feel like I need to keep apologizing." She looks down.
"You don't." He was leaning back in her chair, his feet on the corner of her desk. There was a long silence.
"Get your feet off my desk." She walked into her office and sat her files on her desk.
He dropped his feet to the floor, still reclining back in her chair. "Yes, ma'am."
She stood in front of her desk with her arms folded across her chest. "Can I have my chair back, please?"
"I am willing to share."
"I am trying to work, Booth."
"It's Saturday, Bones. Take the day off." He grinned at her, patting his lap.
She shook her head. "I have things to do, and I told you..." She motioned between them. "...this can't effect our work."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "You are avoiding me. You practically threw me out of your place last night, and this morning you were already gone at daybreak when I tried to bring you coffee. Now you are trying to throw me out of your office?"
"I am not avoiding you. I just need some space."
"Space?" He felt his his chest tighten, and he struggled to convey his fears to her. "Space is not a request that I feel comfortable with." He got up and moved across her office, closing blinds as he went.
"What are you doing?"
He closed her office door, and turned to face her again. "Space is what you ask for when you are looking for a way out. Space is not something you request when things are going as they should."
"I just need time to figure things out, because I don't know if you've noticed, but things are definitely not going as they should." She sat on the edge of her desk.
"Space and time are very different things. Take all the time you need, but don't shut me out. You asked me last night to not give up on you. Don't make me think you are giving up on us. Last night was incredible. It may have had a few bumps and curves, but it is something we needed to do. It was a beginning."
"I can't ask you to keep hanging on to this roller coaster ride."
"You don't have to ask." He crossed the room and leaned his hip against her desk. "Let's get out of here. Let's take the weekend. We can just get away from everything for a while."
"Where would we go?" She found his enthusiasm contagious. She tilted her head to watch him.
"Anywhere. We'll stop by your place, grab a bag, and start driving."
Brennan smiled at the idea, and slid off her desk, walking past him to lock the door. "I really do have some work to finish, but..." She leaned back against the door. "Since we were both up early, and I didn't sleep much last night, I could take a couple of hours for a nap, if you would like to join me? And then after I finish up in the lab, I can come by your place. We can hide out for the rest of the weekend?"
"That sounds like an even better plan." Booth sat on her sofa, and kicked off his shoes. Brennan dropped her lab coat on the hook, and sat down next to him, slipping her shoes off. He stretched out, pulling her down with him. "You know. It's going to drive Angela crazy that we are in here with the doors locked." She turned to face him, laying her head on his shoulder, and threading one leg through his. He pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and pulled it over them.
"I should turn my cell phone off, she'll call." She yawned, and snuggled in close to him. She looked up to find him watching her. "You were right about last night being a beginning. I talked to Angela, about what happened on your roof, and she made me realize something. It was something I already knew, but I didn't realize the importance until she brought it up."
He smoothed her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear.
Brennan rolled on her back to get a better look at him. "I know it seemed like it, but it was not you I was afraid of. It was the situation. When I realized how close you were, and I couldn't move, I was so afraid of being hurdled back through time, seeing his face again, reliving those memories. I didn't want those memories, nightmares, to become entangled in our intimate lives. I've learned first hand what that can do to a relationship. Am I making any sense?"
He propped himself up on one elbow. "You are afraid that if you let me get too close, it will trigger bad memories. You don't want those horrible images associated with us." He rested on hand along the side of her face. She only nodded in agreement. "You making two huge assumptions. First, you are assuming that you will have the same reaction you had with Blake. You have to remember it wasn't me there in bed with you when they were hurting you. It wasn't my face that you were forced to look at. That is something that was contrived for no other purpose than to keep hurting you, long after they were gone."
"Second?" Tears of gratitude were stinging her eyes. She was relieved that he understood what she had had thought to be her irrational fear.
"Your second assumption is that if you did have the same reaction, that it would be the beginning of the end. I say, bring it on. We've dodged bullets before, and we've only become stronger, closer. I know we can make it through this. You just have to have the same faith."
"I did not give us a chance to see what the outcome would be, to see if it is all in the past, or if it is going to impact our future. I'm sorry if I can't be more optimistic right now. I guess I'm just tired."
"We'll figure it out." He kissed her on the cheek, and wrapped his arms around her, snuggling his face into her neck. "Let's just sleep right now."
Angela and Cam stood outside Brennan's door. They kept their voices to a whisper. Cam spoke up first, trying to snatch the key out of Angela's fingers. "I just want to go on record as saying I do not endorse or recommend this."
"Oh give it a rest. If you weren't curious, you wouldn't have followed me here. They've been in there two hours, lights off, blinds drawn, door locked."
"Curious? No. It doesn't take much imagination to know what is going on in there."
Angela put the key in the lock quietly. "I don't want to know in some vague sense. I want to get the full multi-sensory broadcast."
"You really are quite... invested in them, aren't you?"
"I know. It kind of creeps me out too." She twisted the door knob and pushed it open slowly and quietly. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the light. When she saw them she had to clap her hand over her mouth to diminish the cry of happiness and completion she felt at the sight of them curled around each other and sleeping peacefully on the sofa.
Cam carefully peaked around Angela's shoulder. "I don't hear any cursing or shouting, so I am assuming it is safe?" The anxiety on her face softened into a small smile, and she patted Angela on the shoulder. "Job well done, Angela. You should be proud."
Angela gently and quietly pulled the door closed. "I guess they can take it from here."
A/N: One more chapter left! Thanks for sticking with me this long.