Another story I wrote months ago that I was hesitant to post because the "Hannah returns" stories are so overdone, but I wanted to give it a try for myself. Hope you like it. :)
"Temperance?"
Brennan turns around just as she's about to enter the Royal Diner, her expression filling with surprise as she sees the blonde beauty approach her, a similar look of shock reflected in her own face. "Hannah!"
As the journalist closes the distance between the two, she seems to hesitate, before embracing her old friend in a tight hug. "Wow - what's it been, six years?"
"Yes, I believe so," Brennan says, smiling as she pulls away, admiring the way Hannah's hair is still so perfect, her face having barely aged. "What a surprise! How have you been?"
"Good, good. Busy! Work's been crazy." Her eyes scanning Brennan's smart, yet casual outfit, she notices a sparkling ring on her left hand, her eyes widening, the pitch of her voice rising exponentially. "You're married?"
Glancing down at the ring she's worn proudly for the last three years, a smile peeks onto her face. "Yes, I am. I'm very happy."
Hannah smiles too. Of all people, she never thought Temperance Brennan would be one to get married. She thought that was one of the things they had in common, why they understood each other well enough to be friends. Neither had wanted to settle down with a family, both preferring to focus on their careers and personal success. She seems happy though, increasing Hannah's curiosity about the man who'd managed to change Brennan's belief system. Eyes sparkling, she asks, "so, who's the lucky man?"
Brennan hesitates, not knowing if this will make the situation incredibly awkward. Her husband is, after all, Hannah's ex-boyfriend. "It's-. Um. Booth."
Hannah's smile falls at the name she hasn't heard in such a long time, but thinks of almost every day. "Bo-oth?" Her voice cracks as she repeats Brennan's words, needing confirmation.
"Yes," Brennan says matter-of-factly, twisting the wedding band on her finger in the way she always does when she's feeling uncomfortable. "We also have two children together, plus Parker, of course."
"Parker." She blows out a breath, a heap of emotions she hasn't acknowledged in years overwhelming her. How she left her relationship with Booth. His son. Her friendship with Brennan that just dissipated after her break-up with Booth. "Wow, Parker. How is the little guy?"
"Not so little anymore," Brennan says tenderly. "He's living in London with his mom and has been for sometime. He's doing well though."
"London? I bet Seeley's taking that one hard."
"It was hard at first, but I was pregnant with our daughter when he left, so Booth had a distraction."
Intrigued, she asks, "what's her name?"
Brennan can't stop the smile that emerges as she thinks of her precious little girl. "Christine. She's named after my mom. And our youngest is Henry, but we all call him Hank, like-."
"Pops," Hannah answers.
"Yes. Pops." Brennan glances around and sees Booth approach. They had plans to meet for lunch at the diner, but when he sees the two of them stood outside their favourite place to eat, he stops in his tracks, his mouth falling open. Brennan shoots him a small, inviting smile and he slowly walks over, his hand resting in one pocket, his body language exuding awkwardness. When he finally reaches them, he lightly kisses Brennan's cheek. "Hi," she says.
"Hey, Bones." He turns to Hannah and swallows. "Um. Hi. It's, uh, been a while."
"It has. How are you, Seeley?"
"I'm good." Immensely uncomfortable, he adds internally. "Happy. And you?"
"I'm happy too. I've gotten a couple of promotions over the years so I'm doing well."
"I'm glad to hear it. Shall we go inside, Bones?"
"Ok. Hannah?"
The blonde's eyes widen. "No, no. I don't want to intrude..."
"Nonsense. It's fine for Hannah to join us for lunch, isn't it, Booth?"
"Yeah. 'Course. C'mon in here, don't be silly." He opens the door to the Royal Diner, Hannah entering first and Brennan second, Booth last, following them over to their usual table. Booth sits beside Brennan, his arm resting casually on the back of her chair, not even thinking about his ex-girlfriend sitting opposite them. "What d'ya want to order, Bones?"
"Tea and some vegetable soup for me, please, Booth." She glances up at Hannah. "Do you remember the menu?"
The blonde chuckles at the fact the regular patrons have memorised the establishment's menu. "I'll just have a burger and coffee, thank you, Temperance. I take it you're having coffee and pie, Seeley." He shrugs bashfully and she smirks. "You haven't changed at all, have you?"
"Well. I've grown up a little, I think."
Brennan shakes her head incredulously. "Don't listen to him, Hannah. He's such a child. Do you know what he wanted for Christmas? A jet ski. A jet ski."
"Alright, alright," he says, screwing up his face and teasingly pointing at his wife. "That thing was seriously cool, doesn't make me a child."
Her eyebrow arching, Brennan glances conspiratorially at Hannah. "You see?"
She laughs lightly as the waitress comes over to take their order, her eyes never leaving the married couple. Booth has pulled his chair over so he's sitting as close to Brennan as he possibly can, the arm that rests on the back of her chair making circular motions on her shoulder. The look he gives her, even as she does a task as simple as ordering the meal, is like she hung the moon, full of pride, amazement...love. For her part, Brennan is looking back at her husband in a similar way.
It hits Hannah like a sucker punch.
She realises that of course they love each other, Temperance had already told her they were married with children. But seeing their love on such open display in front of her? She has to admit, it really hurts. A few years ago, Booth was looking at her like that, the role reversal breaking her heart a little.
"So, Hannah," Brennan begins, leaning forward on her elbows, "are you seeing anyone? You know, dating, sleeping with?"
Booth coughs sharply, his eyes bugged, his expression showing his deep discomfort. "I think she gets it, Bones."
"I've dated a few guys over the years, but nothing serious," she confesses, her eyes meeting Booth's. The message is clear. No relationship as serious as theirs.
"The implication being that your lasting feelings for Booth have made it difficult for you to move on from him in your love life, yes?"
The blonde's face flushes a deep red.
Booth looks like he wants to die.
Brennan's face as she waits for Hannah's response is calm, neutral, but Hannah doesn't doubt the woman's ability to beat her to the ground if she makes one wrong move. "You can answer, Hannah. We're all adults here. Friends, right?"
"Right." Her jaw is tight, resisting the urge to blurt out any lingering feelings she does still have for Booth. She really likes Temperance and doesn't want to ruin their relationship over some dumb uncontrollable feelings that will never change anyway. Seeing him in a loving and mutually beneficial relationship with Brennan... She's never seen him happier. "I mean... Maybe it's been... Hard... To move on from the most serious relationship I've ever had... But it's not like I still love him or anything... He's with you, Temperance and he seems very happy."
"I am," he clarifies, watching Brennan tenderly. Hannah catches the loving look and swallows. He never - throughout the entirety of their relationship - looked at her the way he looks at Brennan. While she knows he loved her - that, at least, is not in doubt - it was never with the same intensity that he clearly loves Brennan now. She catches his eyes and comes to the realisation Brennan's the one for him and always had been. She realises now that if they hadn't broken up after the rejected proposal, he would have done it anyway some point down the line.
"You two love each other very much," she says, voicing part of her internal monologue. "It's beautiful seeing how happy you make each other."
The couple share a sweet smile, Brennan's hand softly resting on his cheek. She strokes the pad of her thumb over the skin, the slight patch of stubble that resides there. "We are very much in love," she confirms. Then, obviously realising how that sounds, she murmurs an apology.
"No, don't," Hannah objects determinedly. "Don't feel bad about getting to be with your soulmate. I'm delighted for you."
"You are?" Booth seems stunned.
"Yes. Absolutely. Now, come on, show me some pictures of your little munchkins. I can't wait to see."
Doing as she requests, Booth pulls out his phone, unlocks it, and opens up the "family" album. He hands it to Hannah, their fingers making contact for 0.1 seconds. While once she would have felt a spark of electricity, she feels nothing and knows this is a step in the right direction. She hopes they'll one day be able to just be friends. Focusing on the hundreds of photos in front of her, ranging from Parker's childhood to Christine's early days to now, with their latest addition, each new photograph she clicks on is more adorable than the last. Her lips twitch into a smile. "They're beautiful, Temperance. Your daughter looks just like you."
"She really does, right?" Booth pipes in, his tone effused with pride. "Aren't they both gorgeous?"
"Booth."
"What?" He lifts one shoulder in a casual shrug. "It's the truth."
"He's right, Temperance," Hannah says, laughing as her cheeks pink. Looking at a new picture, she murmurs, "and this is your new son? Aww, he's precious!"
"I know. We're extremely lucky to have such beautiful children."
Hannah smiles. Then, curious, asks, "how old is Christine? She's getting big!"
"Five years old," Brennan replies, noting that Booth's head seems downcast.
Hannah begins to choke on the glass of water she's drinking. "She's five? That means she was born five years ago?"
"Yes, obviously," Brennan answers, furrowing her brow. "Is something wrong?"
The blonde pulls back from the table, the chair legs scraping against the floor, creating a truly horrible sound. Hannah leans back, her eyes fixed on the tabletop, unable to look either her ex-boyfriend or once good fried in the eye. She knows what this means. It wasn't long after she left that they...
"Hannah-," Booth tries.
"No, Seeley. I-." One palm facing the couple, she draws in a sharp breath. "I just need some air." She hurries out of the diner, unknowingly followed by one Seeley Booth.
"Hey," he whispers after a while.
She turns to face him. "I-."
"I know. I know what this must look like, but-."
"You've always loved her," Hannah finishes his sentence.
"Yes."
"Did you-," she swallows harshly, "-even love me?"
"Yes," he repeats, his tone firmer. "I did. Our relationship was real. It was important to me. When we met... Bones and I were going through some stuff. Realising our feelings for each other. Admitting them. But Bones didn't want to ruin our partnership. So, she went to Maluku and I went to Afghanistan..."
"And met me."
They exchange meaningful glances. "You made me very happy. And I loved you, I did. But you also broke my heart and Bones..." His lips quirk at the thought of his wife. "She was there for me. I started realising I was never over her, even though I thought I was. So, we got closer and closer, got trapped in my elevator together - long story - and ended up confessing that we wanted to make a relationship work. Bad things happened, Bones lost one of her favourite interns, and we took comfort in one another."
Hannah closes her eyes. "You had sex."
"Yes," he responds honestly. "We did. We started navigating a more... Personal relationship. And then Angela has her baby and we're walking back from the hospital and Bones is all freaked out, talking about parenthood and stuff, worrying if Hodgins and Angela will be alright. She stops and then tells me she's pregnant. And I'm the father." He grins like he did on that day, one of the best days of his life.
"How long was this after I left?"
"Couple of months."
She winces. Though she'd realised he would probably move on from their break-up quickly - he is, after all, extremely attractive - she didn't think he'd move on - with a new family of his own, no less - only a few months after her. Even six years later, her feelings still haven't diminished, but he... He moved on fast.
"I'm sorry if that hurts, but it's the truth."
"I'm happy for you, Seeley - that you finally have the perfect family life you always wanted. I wish I could have given that to you, but I couldn't." She closes her eyes as a single tear slips down her cheek. She reopens them and can see Brennan watching them closely through the diner windows. "You should go back to your wife."
"Hey, are you ok?" He asks, touching her shoulder comfortingly.
"I will be," she nods. "Go."
"Ok." He makes to leave, when Hannah calls his name. Turning back to her, his expression is quizzical.
"Can I give you my new number? For Temperance. So we can keep in touch."
"Sure, she'd love that."
Hannah smiles gratefully and takes out her card from her pocket. Booth accepts it easily and with one last friendly smile, returns to his favourite person.
"Hey," she says quietly as he retakes his seat beside her.
"Hey."
"What did she say?" She's still looking out the window, watching as the blonde hair disappears in the distance.
"She's hurt that I moved on so quickly, but she's happy for us." He slides the business card across the table. "Gave me this for you. Said she wants to keep in touch."
"That will be nice."
"Yeah." He grins, sipping his coffee. "It will be."
Honestly, I liked Hannah. Her relationship with Booth made me uncomfortable because she definitely wasn't the right person for him, but I loved how she was still good friends with Brennan. I thought that was sweet.
Review? :)