-10-

Carnival

"C'mon, Bones, I'm ready to go!" Booth took her out of thoughts when he entered the waiting room. A grin was plastered on his face and he smiled carefree. And as irrational as it was, it made Brennan happy to see him like this. He hadn't been that happy for months.

"Great." She smiled and stood up and walked with him out of the doctor's practice. "What did the MRT tell?"

He shrugged. "Nothing negative, I guess. Dr. Baker was a little weird when she came back. She just told me that she'd send the reports to Sweets and to have a good life."

Brennan swallowed. "Uh…yeah…uh…a weird woman, right?" She smiled forcedly and swallowed again.

Booth grinned cheekily. "Maybe it was because you told her I was your boyfriend."

Brennan blushed hard. "I…that…just…I just…Booth!" She shrieked at the end, because Booth had picked her up and spun her around.

"Yes, I am your boyfriend!", he said quietly and then he bent down and kissed her soundly.

.:::.

"Bones?", Booth grinned when they entered the Carnival. They had just eaten lunch at the diner and had walked over to the big carnival. Needless to say that he had just grabbed her hand and hadn't let go since then.

"What?" She smiled at him.

"You want me to win a super giant stuffed animal for you?"

She looked at him quizzically. "Why would you do that?"

He seemed to be a little dumbfounded. "Bones? Have you never been with a guy at a carnival?"

She shook her head. "No."

He rolled his eyes disapprovingly. "Bones. The guy is supposed to win the girl something, usually a stuffed animal."

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "That's totally inappropriate and macho. Why is the man supposed to win the woman an animal? Why not the other way around. That's just some archaic, sexist habit of alpha male men and I won't support such a behavior."

"Geez, Bones. Relax. If you want, you can win me something too. I just wanted to fool around. You don't have to go all squinty over me."

She shrugged. "No, it's okay if you just win me one, I guess!"

He looked at her out of wide eyes. What the hell? But Booth was wise enough not to continue their argument and just to let it drop. Instead he took her hand again and they started to walk slowly through the carnival.
"So, since I am a gentleman and you are my girlfriend, what do you want to go first?"

She smiled up at him. "You really like the idea, don't you?"

"What idea? Of you being my girlfriend? Of course I do, Bones. I'm crazy for you since I know you. But you already know that. What about you?" He let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Well…", she swallowed. It was one thing acting like this and accepting his affection, but it was something entirely different to actually show her affection and not just in action but in words as well. "I…I have to…change my mind about a few things, I guess!", she answered slowly.

"For example?"

"About the concept of love. And about the different kinds of affection someone can feel towards somebody else. And in which category you might fit." She didn't look at him while she spoke, because it was hard enough to say it anyway. She didn't want to make it even harder y looking him in the eyes.

"Seems if you have a lot to work out the next few weeks and months."

She looked at him quizzically. "Weeks and months?"

"Well, love is something very big Bones. And it's complex."

She shrugged. "I'm a genius, Booth. I make decisions in a fraction of a second. Love is more complex, right, but it still won't take me that long to figure everything out."

"Wow, I'll be curious. Just…just…don't forget, whatever your decision will be, I still…love you, Bones."

And that was all it took to let her heart miss a beat and start to race erratically afterwards. To feel like this was something she had never experienced before. It was a mix of a nice kind of nervousness, tickling goosebumps, a kind of sinking stomach and…yes, this crazy racing heart beat. And there was this shiver that went down her spine, just caused by those three words.

"You know, I think that maybe the difficulty of the concept you call love is to love someone and be actually brave enough to let yourself be loved as well. But…maybe…the thought of letting myself be loved by someone won't be that terrifying anymore if you are the one who loves me." She swallowed again and dared to look up at him.

Booth had stopped walking and because they were still holding hands, she had stopped too. Not that she had actually noticed that while she had spoken.
Carefully he took a step closer to her and grabbed her other hand. They were close enough to feel each other's breath.
"You're right, Bones, that's indeed a terrifying thought, but I'll be brave enough for both of us to make this work if I have to." His voice was quiet and sincere.

They looked into each other's eyes and Brennan's mind was quiet for the very first time in her entire life. There was no running, there was no analyzing, just silence; no movement. Peace and calmness.

And when he leaned down to bridge the gap between them and captured her lips, there was no firework in her body, no inflamed spark. There was just this feeling of perfection, what she never had believed to exist.

Yeah, loving someone was easy, but being brave enough to let yourself be loved was actually the real challenge, but obviously was Booth willing to take on.

Okay, so far. What do you think ? I know, Brennan is a little OOC, but I think it's a situation which is very OOC, so don't be too hard to her ;)
As always I'd like you to R&R because it's so frustrating to never get a feedback :(

Xoxo,
Michi