An: Sorry for taking awhile longer for this. Eh, as least it wasn't as long as I was before. He he :D
Temperance Brennan never woke up with someone else. She always started the day alone, lived her day alone, and slept alone. She liked it that way. She found peace in her solitude, but it was only until she woke up in Booth's strong arms that she realized her solitude was really loneliness all along.
She heard Pops and Jared stirring below the loft, but worry didn't sink into her chest, she only started running her fingers over his chest and stomach, tracing the trenches of muscle revealed to her, as his hand rested gently on her back, soft snores were breathed into the side of her neck.
She smiled and kissed his temple ever so slightly, his body stirring under her hands, but he still didn't wake, but for that she was glad. The way his whole body relaxed, and his face rested peaceful, she understood that this was the only time all of his personal troubles were forgotten.
She understood that.
She understood him.
His arms, at that moment, tightened around her body and brought her closer to him, a soft grumble leaving his throat as he buried his face further into her neck.
"Booth," she whispered into his ear, sending a shiver down his spine that she witnessed with her own eyes, her fingers following the reaction down his back.
"Mmm Bones?" he asked quietly, his mind delusional, and naïve to reality.
"I'm here," she whispered, resting her head against his shoulder and running her nails comfortingly up and down his back, smiling and bringing him from slumber, and into the waking word, where he visibly tensed when he obviously realized this was real.
"Um, morning," he said, his hand running over the back of his neck as he moved away from her, and sat up slowly.
She smiled and sat up with him, her hand reaching up to touch the side of his face turned away from her, bringing his eyes to hers and turning his head before pressing her lips to his, a smile permanently etched onto her face.
"Mmm good morning," he said again, a gentle smile on his lips.
She laughed gently and smiled, her hand falling from his cheek to rest on his chest "Good morning," she whispered, leaning forward and kissing his shoulder lovingly, before resting her cheek on the spot she kissed, and closing his eyes as his fingers ran into her hair.
"Sleep well?" he asked quietly, kissing her forehead and burying his nose in her hair.
"Very. You?"
"Better than I ever had before," he admitted, wondering how deep of waters he got himself into for taking that plunge and sleeping with her…or well…beside her.
She smiled and pressed him back, so that she was curled against his side, her hand and head resting on his chest, his fingers still in her hair as they just simply lay there, silent, but speaking paragraphs in their mind.
"Shrimp?!" Pops called, and Booth visibly flinched, kissing her forehead before slipping out of bed and tip toeing to the edge of the loft, bringing his finger to his lips in a 'be quiet' motion, a playful glint in his eye, and Pops just simply laughed and walked into the kitchen.
"What were you going for?" Temperance asked with a smile, sitting up and wrapping her arms around her knees "Scare me out of bed this morning?"
"Yes," he teased, walking over to her and kissing her cheek gently, before resting his lips by her ear "Which means I'll have to make you scream."
She shivered and bit her lip, her body on high alert from the electric shocks that ran through her veins.
He smiled at her reaction and brought his hands to her sides, poking them gently and eliciting a scream from her lips, and sending her sprawling to the other side of the bed, panting and groaning.
"That hurt," she murmured, wrapping her arms around her stomach as she stood and frowned.
"I'm sorry," he apologized genuinely, opening his arms to her "Would a hug make you feel better?"
"Maybe, but it's a start," she whispered, her arms still around her stomach as she stepped into his arms and rested her head back against his chest, his arms circling her fully and bringing his hands to roam up and down her back, his lips pressing tenderly into her forehead.
"Mmm, we have to go home tomorrow," she whispered, shaking her head "I don't want to go back, I'm so happy here."
"I know," Booth agreed, hugging her tighter and resting his head against hers. "I'm happy here too, but, we have to go back."
"But what about Da-"
"Don't even worry about that now Bones," he whispered, wrapping his arms under her arms and lifting her into the air, holding her to him as her legs wrapped around his waist and her head rested against his shoulder like a tired child.
"Booth?" she asked quietly, running her fingers over the nape of his neck. "What are people going to say when we get back to school?"
"What do you mean?" he asked quietly, moving to sit on the edge of the bed so she sat comfortably in his lap.
"I mean…"she whispered, sitting back enough to look at him in the eyes "What exactly are we?"
"What do you want to be?"
"I don't know," she admitted, her eyes vulnerable and wide "I…relationships scare me," she whispered "They really do, I just…don't see myself as someone, someone else would ever want to be with."
Booth smiled reassuringly and clasped her face between his hands, leaning forward and kissing her lips tenderly "I want to be with you," he assured, one hand working to brush her soft hair from her face.
"Really?"
"Yeah Bones," he whispered, a small smile on his lips "Believe it or not, but I have this weird need to be around you."
"Hey that's your problem not mine," she joked gently, and she laughed as he rolled his eyes and chuckled, kissing her shoulder gently.
"How about this?" he asked, running his thumb across her back "We ease into this. We can go on a couple of dates, and see how we work when we're together, and if it works, we'll make things official. Is that alright?"
Temperance nodded "That's rational," she agreed, smiling and leaning forward, her lips barely touching his "I can still kiss you all I want though right?"
Booth smiled and closed the gap between them, kissing her deeply before resting his forehead against hers. "Of course you can Bones. I'm all yours."
*****
"Ah," Booth said, straightening his knees and arcing his arm perfectly, the large orange ball easily swishing through the chain net and bouncing back to him at the foul line "I spent so many nights here on the weekend, playing with the neighborhood kids."
Temperance smiled and rose an eyebrow towards him "I thought this hurt your shoulder."
"It does sometimes," Booth admitted, "It hurts now, but I've learned to deal with it."
"Hm, so you still have the b-ball skills…" she admired, catching the ball as it slammed off the rim and bounced towards her.
"Most of them," Booth admitted with a smile, walking up to her slapping the ball from her hands, laughing as she yelled at him and ran after him as he moved and laid the ball up against the back board.
"That is no fair," she whimpered, grabbing the ball and wrapping her arms around it.
"Ok," Booth said "I'm sorry. That wasn't fair."
"No it wasn't. Besides, I've never played basketball before."
"Do you know how to shoot?"
"Well shooting is simple, you just have to apply physics and insert the angle of your wrist, your distance from the net and the power you apply when shooting the ball."
"Oh really?" Booth asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back smugly "Show me then."
She nodded and dropped the ball to the ground, eyeing the net before raising the ball and shooting it into the air, the orange mass making a perfect arc before falling into the net.
"Oh that's so not cool…" Booth droned.
"Its science," she merely said, smiling at his slightly defeated features. "How about a game?"
He laughed and grabbed the ball between his hands "Between you and me?"
"There's no one else here Booth, so I suppose yes, it would only be between you and me."
"Smartass," he muttered playfully, nodding back towards the half court line "Alright then, I'll check it," he said, bouncing the ball to her, and stretching his arms out as she crossed the line and dribbled the ball across the court.
He pressed back against her and towered over her, leaving her laughing and bending over as she tried to get around him for a clear place to shoot.
"Booth," she laughed, trying to use her back to push him away "Stop," she whined breathlessly, laughing and feeling a tear slide from her eye down her cheek.
He laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around, the ball leaving her hands and going through the net again.
She laughed; her hands on his arms as he set her down and stared at the net in disbelief. "Why don't you play basketball?" he asked, shaking his head.
"Because I like my job, and I like studying. I would prefer doing an experiment than running back and forth on a court."
Booth smiled and kissed her neck gently "You amaze me, you know that right?"
"I don't understand why," she whispered, straightening and resting her head against his as his head rested against her shoulder.
"You're just…I've met anyone like you before," he whispered "You're unique; you're truly and utterly amazing."
She stared forward at the darkening sky and sighed gently "How do you see these amazing things within me that I can't even see?"
"Because people always take their own being for granted. They don't see how unique they are. They don't see how beautiful they are. They don't see how much they can mean to someone, because in their mind, it's just, the same old you."
She turned in his arms and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck "You really mean that?" she asked quietly.
"If I didn't I wouldn't have said it Bones," he explained, leaning forward to place a kiss right between her eyes.
She shook her head and smiled "I never would have thought that I would meet someone like you."
"And what am I like exactly?" he ventured, a smile on his lips.
"Someone who actually gave me a chance," she whispered, her eyes flashing with sadness.
He smiled and brushed her hair behind her ear, kissing her lovingly on the lips, and holding the kiss for what felt like forever, their tongues moving together gently before parting, completely breathless.
"Every person who passed you up, was a complete and total idiot," he complimented "But I'm glad they were idiots, because I like you all to myself."
"I like it too," she agreed, smiling and swaying gently in his arms, shivering as a cold breeze brushed against her skin.
"You cold?" Booth asked gently, hugging her tightly to try and keep her warm.
"Sort of," Temperance agreed, snuggling into his chest.
"How about we do this," Booth whispered against her ear "We go back to Pop's and we put a really big blanket on the floor in front of the TV with LOTS of pillows. Then we can curl up in our pajamas, and I can make some of my semi-famous hot chocolate to warm you up, and we can watch movies until we fall asleep."
Temperance smiled and kissed his cheek gently "That sounds perfect."
*****
It was 3 o'clock in the morning when Booth finally woke up and turned to TV off before falling back against the pillows and wrapping his arms around Temperance again. They fell asleep half way into the second movie, his hot chocolate warming them both inside and out and making them even drowsier.
She fell asleep against his shoulder, his arms around her as her soft breathing started lulling him to sleep. Eventually they fell asleep against the other, and somewhere in the night, Temperance moved to rest on her side, and Booth followed after her, resting his chest against her back and wrapping his arms tight around her.
Sure Pops crossed his mind before he fell asleep, but when his nose buried in her neck and their breathing mingled together in the night hair, he only cared about her, and being with her.
Everyone and everything else was nonexistent.