A.N. This chapter is for all my devoted reviewers, the anonymous readers and especially for Penelope1985 who provided me with much needed butt kicking a couple of times. I'm so sorry for the lack of updates lately :( I don't know what happened!You guys are worth writing for :) I love that you take the time to let me know you still care. I hope you like this one...

Chapter 10
Tradition Is Wasted

"Happy birthday, sweetie!" Angela hugged her from behind. Brennan didn't know why she was startled. She should have been used to it by then.

"It's the 12th time you've wished me a happy birthday today, Ange."

"I know. I'm so great!" She watched as her friend went behind her desk and sat at the computer. "What are you doing? I thought you were done for the day," she said.

"I am. Almost."

"Good. Because we are going out tonight."

"What for?"

"To celebrate, what else?!"

"You know how I feel about birthdays," she complained.

"And you know how I feel about them. You can't say no. Last year, you said you would let me take you out this year. So... Up, up, up!"

Brennan sighed. She knew she should make an effort and go out with Angela. But she was waiting for something else. Not that she would ever admit it, but... Booth always hung out with her on her birthday. He would always come by after work. They would order in and spend a quiet evening together. He never mentioned it was for her birthday, because he knew she hated it, but he was there. And he always discreetly put a funny birthday card on her desk. And she liked that tradition. Not that she would call it a tradition, per se.

"I think we should concentrate on the case," she tried.

"There's nothing to concentrate on! Without a confession, we will never get Turner."

"Maybe we missed som..."

"No. Stop. Don't even go there, it's not healthy."

Brennan didn't want to say out loud that she was waiting for Booth, but she couldn't think of an excuse, and she didn't want to lie to her best friend.

"Booth should come by soon. He... needs this file," she remembered. She held it high to show Angela she wasn't making this up.

"Ok. Then after, we go out."

"I don't really..."

Angela tried not to get excited as it hit her.

"Do you have plans with Booth?"

"No..."

The artist tilted her head and examined the scientist's features. Surely she wouldn't be lying about something like this.

"There he is," Brennan pointed out as Booth joined them.

"Hello, ladies," he greeted them, cheerful.

"Why, hello to you, too, Booth," Angela replied, still looking at Brennan.

Feeling stared at, Brennan handed him the file he wanted before he even had a chance to ask for it. She glimpsed at Angela, who usually left them alone rather quickly. Why this moment was any different, she had no idea.

If Brennan didn't want to give her a straight answer, she would have to ask the other party.

"So! Booth! What are your plans for tonight?"

That's when he started to act strangely. He buried his hands in his pockets and shifted on his feet. "I'm going out," he said, like it was no big deal.

Angela's eyes grew bigger. Did those two have a secret date tonight? Impossible. Life was never that awesome. She looked from one to the other and realized Brennan looked surprised. And... quite shaken up.

He was going out?

"You are?" she repeated before she could stop herself.

Angela asked the question that was burning Brennan's lips. "With whom?"

Brennan felt a mini-wave of panic go through her. Trying to cover up her shock, she grabbed her purse under her desk.

"Me too," she said. "Angela and I have big plans. Right?"

Angela's head turned to her. What was with the sudden change of attitude?

She was going out? Good for her. Right? Booth squeezed his hands into fists.

"Great," he said.

"Yes."

Angela spotted Sweets, who was coming their way. She called out to him, hoping to break this thick tension steadily building around them.

"Dr. Sweets! Great timing. You wanna go out with Brennan and I?"

The psychologist, who was holding a gift bag, entered the office.

"I would love to," he said. "But I have an important meeting at the F.B.I..."

He tried not to look at Booth or at Brennan, but they both instantly understood what his meeting was about. Them. Maybe he felt guilty. Maybe he felt like he was forced to betray them. At least he had brought her a birthday present...

"Here," he continued, handing her the colourful bag. "Happy birthday."

She took it, even though part of her always thought it was a little stupid to offer gifts on birthdays. She got a year older, it's not like she had accomplished something huge that warranted compensation.

"Thanks," she let out. All three of them were watching her. Suddenly self conscious, she put the bag on her desk.

"Aren't you gonna open it?"Angela asked.

"I will. I'm..."

"It's ok," Sweets said. "You can open it later." He checked his watch. "I have to go. Have fun!" he said as he headed out.

"His meeting must be really important for him to pass out on an opportunity to hang out with us," Angela stated.

Booth and Brennan exchanged a knowing look, trying to figure out if the other was as scared as they were.

"Well..." Booth said, slapping the file into his hand. "Thanks for this," he said, holding it up. "And... uhm... yeah. Don't party too hard," he warned them.

***

Angela refilled Brennan's glass for the fifth time. The anthropologist had stopped looking at her watch every fifteen minutes, and she took it as a good sign.

"Can I buy you a drink?" a tall weird looking man asked her.

"Get in line, pal," another man told him. Before a fight broke out, Angela tried to smooth things over.

"There's no line tonight, boys. Sorry." And she turned back to face a surprised and confused Brennan.

"Why are all the men in here gravitating around you?" she asked. "I'm beautiful, too, and no one has offered me drinks."

Angela knew her friend by heart. It was a good thing, otherwise she could have taken offense.

"Because as much as they would love to buy you drinks, you scare them off."

"I'm not doing anything to scare them away!"

"But you are."

Angela scooted closer and tried to explain how intimidating she could be.

"And I'm not saying it's a bad thing! That way, you probably assure yourself to only attract real strong and confident men... But if you want to feel good and flattered once in a while, you might wanna... Let me teach you a trick."

Curious as to what Angela could possibly teach her now, she paid attention.

"Do exactly what I'm doing, ok?"

She followed instructions and mirrored Angela. She gulped down her glass, too. She was already feeling loopy, but she managed to concentrate on the lesson.

...

She frowned. She was trying to imitate her, but Angela wasn't doing anything.

"What am I supposed to do now?" she verified.

"What I'm doing. Smile."

"You're not smiling, Angela."

"Of course I am! Look carefully."

Brennan waited for it, but...

"I think you are drunker than I am."

"Probably, but that's not the point," Angela said, asking the bartender for another round.

Brennan took a sip and set the glass aside, ready for Angela's explanation.

"You have to smile with your eyes..." she finally said.

Brennan couldn't help but laugh.

"Eyes don't have lips."

"But they show your soul."

Brennan shook her head. She was dizzy.

"That's just ridiculous."

"Smiling with your eyes allows you to remain mysterious while sending out the message you are accessible."

Brennan was still chuckling.

"Don't mock!" Angela laughed. "It's a proven technique!"

"Proven by whom?"

"... By 13 years of A.N.T.M."

"Of what?"

"Never mind. Please, try it. For me."

When Angela begged, no one could say no. Brennan set her glass on the counter and sighed. She looked Angela right in the eye and tried not to laugh.

"Ok. Don't use your lips at all. Just put some intensity in your eyes."

"Angela..."

"Just do it," she cut her off. "Look fierce."

"Like this?"

Brennan's face got all stiff. She was squinting while trying to keep her eyes wide open... Angela almost spit out the sip she had just taken.

"We'll need to work on it. Until then... don't ever do that again."

***

They had danced, laughed, talked, drunk and drunk some more. They were both sitting on the curb in front of the bar, enjoying a little bit of fresh air.

"I can't believe how wasted I already am. It's not even 1 am," Angela whined.

Brennan wasn't listening.

"I can't believe Booth made other plans on my birthday."

She hadn't meant to say it out loud. She was pretty sure she was only thinking it, but Angela turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder and said,

"He never goes out. He's probably in his apartment watching TV."

Brennan spoke again. Or slurred.

"He probably went out with Jerry. And he's probably having sex."

Angela's head was spinning.

"Who's Jerry? And why would Booth be having sex with him?"

Brennan frowned and looked at her friend. Everything was in slow motion.

"No. Jerry is Booth's friend. And he wants him to go out. And have sex. Because he is turning into a priest."

"A priest?"

"And he's probably having sex with a tall..." Brennan raised her hand as high as she could to show Angela how tall that woman would be. "... skinny blond with long legs. In a skirt."

"Yeah, he does like his blonds."

"I don't like blonds."

"Me neither."

They were both reflecting, imagining what Booth was doing. Before Brennan could sigh, Angela had an idea.

"We should call him," she said, all giddy, like it was the most fun idea ever.

"To say what?"

"To say nothing! Just to interrupt whatever he's doing."

There was absolutely no logic to it, but Brennan thought it was a brilliant idea.

"Give me your phone," she said, excitedly.

Angela obeyed and handed her her cell.

"What's the code you enter to block caller ID?"

"Uhm... *67."

Brennan punched in the phone number and put the phone against her ear. As soon as she heard it ring, she panicked and threw the phone back at Angela.

"You do it!" she said.

Angela screamed a little, surprised. And threw her back the phone.

"What?! No! You do it!"

"No!"

"Hello?" they both heard through the phone lying on Brennan's lap.

She instantly pushed it off of her and looked at Angela, eyes widened.

"Oh ! Hang up!" she whispered. "Hang up!"

Angela fumbled with the phone. And pressed 'End'.

"Why did we do that?" Brennan asked.

"I don't know." She wracked her brain to find something that would explain their action. Booze.

"I just don't understand. It's my birthday. We were supposed to eat Thai food, argue over the validity of fortune cookies and drink bear."

"So you had plans with him and he ditched you? I will kill him."

"We didn't make plans. But we always do that. It's our tradition." Her nose was starting to sting and her eyes were getting blurry. She was about to cry.

If Angela wondered how drunk Brennan was, she didn't anymore.

"Are you crying?" she verified.

"No! It's my allergies."

"You don't have allergies," she pointed out.

But Brennan avoided the tears by getting angry.

"It's my birthday," she repeated. "If anyone should be having sex, it's me!"

"You want me to find you someone in there?" Angela joked.

"Okay," Brennan agreed.

Angela grew serious.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No."

"Okay. I think it's time we go home."

"Okay," Brennan agreed again.

For what seemed like forever, Angela dug through her purse.

"Do you have cash?" she asked.

"Why?"

"To pay for a cab."

"Oh!" Brennan remembered. She grabbed Angela by the shoulders to grab her attention. And to steady herself. "You told me to remind you that you hid a 20 in your jeans back pocket for a taxi."

"Right. Do you have cash?"

"Where's the 20?"

"We drank it 30 minutes ago."

"Oh."

"Do you have cash?" Angela asked for the third time, faintly aware she was repeating herself.

"I left my wallet in my purse. In my car. You said you would pay for everything, so I left it there."

"Ok. Give me your keys."

"I left my keys in my purse. In my car."

They looked at each other and laughed at how drunk the other was.

"We could walk," Brennan proposed.

They tried to get up at the same time, pushing on the other to help themselves... and fell back on the curb.

"Or not," Angela realized.

"We could call Hodgins. He wouldn't mind picking you up," Brennan suggested.

"Or we could call Booth. He wouldn't mind picking you up."

Brennan took her cell phone out of her pocket and asked,

"What's Hodgins' phone number?"

Angela opened up her own phone and looked through the directory.

Brennan had typed in every number Angela said before she realized it.

"That's Booth's number!"

"You're welcome," Angela replied, making no sense whatsoever.

"Hello?" a raspy, deep male voice answered.

Brennan tried not to sound drunk or panicked. It was only Booth.

"Hi!" she said, cheerful. "Here's Angela." She through the phone at her friend, who unexpectedly caught it.

"Hi, Booth. Sorry to disturb you like this... Is this a bad time?"

Brennan held her breath, waiting for his answer, which she never heard. Angela apologized.

"What did he say?" she whispered loudly. She tugged on her friend's sleeve. "Ange. Is he having sex?"

Angela tried not to laugh as she kindly asked him to help them out.

"Angela!" Brennan tried, louder.

But Angela had already hung up.

"Bren, I honestly have never seen you like this."

"Like what? Drunk?"

"Acting like a 14 year-old."

"I'm not acting like a 14 year-old. What did he say?"

Angela laughed again.

"He'll be here in 20."

***

Booth pulled the car right in front of the bar. He thought he would have to search the establishment from top to bottom to find them, but they were sitting on the sidewalk, waiting for him. Brennan looked asleep, her head on Angela's shoulder. A sad sight, really. He smiled.

"You had fun, I take it," he said, opening the back door.

"Shhh!" Angela warned him as if his voice could wake her up.

"Is she ok?" he said, concerned.

"She'll be fine..."

After they set Brennan, still asleep, in the backseat, Angela sat in front.

"You sure she's ok?" he asked again.

"Yes."

"She doesn't seem fine to me," he pressed on.

"Well, then, you don't know her very well."

"You're kidding, right?"

Angela didn't know where that came from. Maybe she was mad at him. She had seen how hurt Brennan was by the fact that Booth had broken their tradition. She was sick of seeing them run around in circle. It really made her physically ill. Or make it was just the alcohol.

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

Booth would have slammed on the breaks if the car hadn't been still parked.

"What?! Why are you mean to me? You're never mean!"

"I'm sorry, Booth. But you deserve it."

Shut up, Angie.

Booth started the car. He hoped they wouldn't get all the red lights. He had a feeling this ride was not going to be fun.

"You shouldn't be mean to someone who drops everything he was doing to come and pick you up when you need it..."

"Tell Blondie we're sorry," she spat out with a laugh.

"Blondie?"

"Wasn't that what you were doing before I called you?"

"What?!"

Ok, maybe she had gone too far. But who was he to have sex on Brennan's birthday?

"You're a weird drunk, Angela."

He decided not to let himself argue with her. He would just drive and shut up. She would apologize on Monday.

"I'm not the one who said it. That one was from her," Angela said, pointing in the back.

"She's asleep," he stated.

"She wasn't asleep all evening. She was drinking. She was devastated." Ok, maybe not. But close enough.

"Why? What happened?" he asked, clearly worried.

"You forgot her birthday," she let out, praying this whole conversation would never get back to her friend. She turned around quickly to make sure Brennan was still fast asleep.

"I didn't forget!" Booth interjected. "I left her gift in her office."

"You usually spend the evening with her with Thai food and cookies and stuff. She was upset."

"I'm sorry!" he said. It was the first time in years he hadn't celebrated her birthday with her, and it killed him. But things changed. "I figured she would want to spend it with Cal this year."

"Oh, my God!" Angela almost yelled. "How out of it are you?" She turned to him, refraining from hitting him with her purse. "She's been broken up with Cal for weeks now!"

Stunned, Booth looked at Angela. He quickly looked back on the road ahead.

"She didn't tell me," he murmured. "I didn't know."

He should have felt sad for her, right? Why was he trying not to smile, then? Why hadn't she told him? Why hadn't he seen it? He was a trained special agent, for Heaven's sake.

Still wondering when, how and why they had broken up, he arrived at Angela's apartment. She got out and said,

"I'll apologize later for the way I spoke to you. For now, just make sure she takes 2 aspirins and a glass of water before she goes to bed."

"She only has Tylenol. Will it do?" he said. "See? I know her."

Angela smiled. That was a wicked smile.

"But you keep Aspirin. Her keys are locked in her car back at the club. She's all yours for the night."

And she slammed the door.

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PLEASE REVIEW :( even though I don't deserve it since I've been taking so long to update.

I know this chapter is shorter and it's not fair since I haven't posted in 3 weeks. But the reason is simple: that was NOT the end of the chapter I had planned. I hadn't planned for Brennan to leave her purse in the locked car. Now that she has to sleep at Booth's place... I have a longer chapter to write for you next. I hope you won't mind...