Age 37-Christmas Day

The dishes had been washed, and most everyone had left. Bones found herself pouring two glasses of wine as soon as the door closed behind her father and Margaret, and she turned her head to see Booth half asleep on the couch. "Hey." She said as she walked toward him, sitting down beside him, she touched his hand with the stem of the glass and his eyes opened and his head tipped back forward as he eyed her carefully.

"What is this?"

"The rest of the wine." She said with a shrug. "I don't want it to go to waste."

"Ah…" He said with a friendly smile as she settled next to him on the couch and watched him. "Thank you." He said softly.

"I just couldn't see it going to waste, you know? It was very good wine, and…"

"Bones…" Booth said with a slight chuckle to his voice. "I mean thank you for inviting me for Christmas dinner. It was nice."

"I couldn't see you being alone for Christmas. We spend so much time together, we're practically family, right?" She paused. "I mean… family that I can put up with." She said with a knowing smile, watching his eyes soften as he relaxed into the couch, he yawned, covering his mouth with his wrist.

"Maybe wine isn't a good idea after all." She smiled, tipping her head onto the back of the couch as she pulled her feet up and curled up slightly.

"It's fine. It feels good to relax. Besides, we never had our closed case drinks that we always have." He said, holding out his glass to her, she smiled and leaned forward, toasting her glass with his. "To us." He said with a friendly smile. Their eyes didn't move from one another's as they sipped from their glasses. Bones blushed a little more the longer their eyes were connected, and after almost a minute, she let her eyes drift to the Christmas tree. She stared at it for several moments.

"Hey." Booth said softly, watching her eyes meet with his, she gave him a shy smile.

"Why were you hiding behind the Christmas tree last night?" She asked bluntly, watching his eyes widen in surprise, his eyebrows shooting up, and his jaw dropping slightly.

He recovered quickly, those brown eyes immediately taking on a playful defiance. "I wasn't hiding."

"You were standing there."

"And you broke into my apartment." He said with a slight chuckle that made her look away from him and back to the tree. "So you knew I was there?"

"How could anyone miss those socks you were wearing? You couldn't even hide them in the dark from across the room." She laughed. "It was how I knew that it was you, and not an intruder or something."

He laughed as he took his turn for his own cheeks to burn in embarrassment, he chuckled. "Why didn't you say anything?" He asked curiously, watching her shrug as she turned toward him, bringing her knees up to her chest as she watched him.

"I figured you had a good reason for it." She replied, shrugging as she glanced over at her Christmas tree, she let him recover from her reply.

"You figured I had a good reason for it?" He asked, leaning forward, he tried to catch her eyes, but she wouldn't relent and let him have them, she was far too engrossed in the Christmas tree. "Bones?" He said, waiting for her eyes to meet his, it took her a moment, but her head turned.

"Why were you behind the Christmas tree?" She asked again, her eyes honest and clear as she watched him avoid eye contact with her this time, his laugh was forced and nervous.

"I don't know why." He replied softly.

"You don't know why?" She asked, tilting her head, she watched as he stared at the tree and moved his lips as if he were trying to find the words. Suddenly, he placed the glass of wine on the table next to him and stood up. He walked over to her and held his hand out for her to take. "What?" She whispered. He wiggled his fingers, and without a second thought, she placed her glass on the coffee table and took his hand. He pulled her up carefully, and tugged her arm a bit, pulling her along with him as he walked toward the Christmas tree. He slipped behind the tree and into the corner, pulling her along with him. "Booth, what are we doing?" She whispered as she felt him tug her in front of him, putting his hands on her shoulders, she looked up at him. "Booth?"

"Look straight ahead." He said, nodding toward the tree.

"It's a tree…" She said, looking at the tree, and back up at him.

"You're a genius."

"I know." She whispered as she stared at the tree for a moment.

"Shh, Bones." He said as she stared out into her living room through the tree. His hands absentmindedly rubbed her arms tenderly. She felt a shiver work its way up her spine and her shoulders shrugged as his breath brushed across her ear.

"I loved Christmas when I was a little girl." She whispered. "Before my parents disappeared, of course." She swallowed hard as she watched the lights twinkling through the tree, her eyes focusing on the ornaments as she looked through the tree. "I loved the smell of the tree, and the feel of the needles on my fingertips… I loved the ornaments on the trees, and my mom and dad would drive us around the different neighborhoods, to look at the lights that everyone decorated their houses with. Russ and I would pick our favorites… and when we'd ride around the next week or so, my dad would always make sure he drove by our favorites." She paused as she stared at the branches before her, feeling his chin resting on her shoulder as she spoke, his soft, warm breath skating across her skin as he listened.

"Bones?" He whispered.

"Hmm…?" She said as she turned her head, feeling the scratch of his five o'clock shadow on her chin, she was nearly overtaken by the scent of his cologne, and the proximity of his lips to hers, though she kept her cool.

"I think that you figured out why I stand behind the Christmas tree each year." He whispered.

"So that you can look at the lights?" She asked, her head turning back to the tree as she listened to a tender sigh escape his lips.

"Not exactly."

"To try to recapture the way you felt when you were a little boy?"

"Mmm…" He nodded slightly into her shoulder, burying his nose in her shoulder slightly as they both remained silent for several minutes. "Are you going to make fun of me?" He whispered, his voice slightly muffled by her shoulder as she turned her head quickly to look into his eyes.

"No." She said sternly, her eyebrows furrowing, sending his head away from her shoulder as he looked at her nearly offended expression. "Why would I do that?"

"Because it's silly and irrational, and it doesn't serve any other purpose other than for people to look in on me and make fun of me for being strange, or feel sorry for me." He replied.

"I don't feel sorry for you." She said definitively. "And I don't look in at you, Booth. I prefer to see things through your eyes every once in a while."

"Thanks, Bones." He whispered, settling back against the wall, she tipped back against him, leaning against his body, while she allowed him to wrap his arms around her, and attempted to see things through his eyes a little longer.