Disclaimer: I do not own Bones
Thank you Nele!! For Beta-ing!!! Also thanks to all who took the time to review!!
Brennan sauntered over to Angela's office and gently knocked. "Hey Ange, can I talk to you a minute?" She was desperate to gain another perspective on what happened this morning and get some help trying to figure out what to do about it.
"Sure Sweetie, come have a seat." Angela said as she went and sat on the couch, patting the cushion beside her.
Brennan gracefully set herself down and looked at her friend. "I need… perspective… and advice about something." Brennan stalled as she tried to figure out the best approach to take.
"Spill sweetie, what's going on?" Angela gently placed a hand on her arm.
Brennan offered her friend a half smile. "Well, it's Booth."
Brennan seemed partly distressed and very uncertain, which bothered Angela, as Temperance Brennan is almost never uncertain.
"Jared is staying with him, as you know, and when I arrived there Booth was out of sorts. We began to converse and some of his good nature returned after Jared went to shower."
"So? Details sweetie, details!" Ange insisted.
"Well, I informed Booth of my plan to bring him here for a visit, he seemed quite thrilled. Then when Jared was done showering I told Booth to go shower and get ready, that I would wait for him." She paused and gave Angela a perplexing look "Then Jared, Well, he said some things."
Angela was extremely interested at this point, however held back her usual vigor to extract information from Brennan, as she was freely asking for advice for once. She really didn't want to pry too much and make Brennan clam up. So she chose the least threatening words she could think of, direct and to the point, no innuendo implied. "What is it that he said?"
"Well, he said that Booth had been asking about the nature of our relationship, that he wanted to know if we were… you know… more." Brennan looked up and saw the twinkle in Angela's eye which told her she knew exactly what she was referring to. "He said he informed Booth we were simply partners, friends. Possibly best friends."
"Ok, and that's correct, right?" Angela encouraged.
"Yes, Booth and I have never been anything more than good friends and valued partners." Brennan stated, but she did not meet Angela's eye at this statement. After a brief pause she regained eye contact and continued."Then he asked me if we were more, told me if I told him we were he would 'back off.' I proceeded to tell him we were not more, and that's when he…" Brennan was wringing her hands in her lap now and her gaze was drawn to then.
"He what, Bren?" Angela was getting worried now, she rarely saw Brennan so distressed.
"He kissed me." At Angela's gasp Brennan looked back up at her, tears now shining in her eyes. "I was in the middle of saying something and he just did, I didn't kiss him back," She stammered quickly and somewhat defensively. Angela had the same look in her eyes the first time she had told Brennan not to get involved with Jared."But that's not the worst part." Her gaze once again fell from Angela to her lap.
"Oh Sweetie, no…"Angela guessed this was coming.
"Yes, Booth chose that moment, right before I was able to force him away from me to come in. He looked so hurt Ange… and angry." Eyes catching her friends again as a single tear managed to escape her right eye. "He stormed off. Then I chased him back to his room and convinced him I didn't kiss him, he tried to kiss me. I convinced him somehow to still come here with me." She sighed.
Angela gave her a sympathetic look. "Well sweetie, just because he doesn't remember everything doesn't mean his feelings go away."
"Ange!" Brennan said a little too harshly. "You don't know that he had any feelings above friendship for me. Besides, we are partners, good friends, we weren't romantically involved."
"Sweetie, you really need to catch up! You both wanted to be, it was just his stupid fictitious imaginary line that kept you apart." Brennan now looked like she was going to retreat and Angela knew she had pushed too hard. "Sorry sweetie, now please, you said you wanted advice. What exactly do you want advice about?"
"Well, what do I do?" Brennan looked terrified, like a deer caught in headlights.
"Sweetie now is when you have to be very truthful with me if you want the right advice. I promise, no matter what you say I will not tell anyone and I will not judge." Hopeful that Brennan might just take a leap once in her life and admit to what everyone already knew to be true."Do or even did you want more from your relationship with Booth? A romantic relationship I mean?"
Brennan thought carefully about how to respond to this, as she had only admitted it to herself through a story she wrote while waiting for Booth to come out of his coma. "I think I do, or did before he lost his memory, now I think it would just be wrong to pressure him that way. I didn't even realize what it was I wanted from our relationship until I was waiting for him to wake up."
Angela nodded triumphantly. "Well then sweetie, if you are interested, and obviously he is interested, I would just see where it goes. Don't push it or anything, just let nature take its course. He'll slowly keep remembering things and when his memory is restored you can talk to him about it then. That is, if nothing comes up beforehand." She now sported a devilish grin. Then she spoke in a serious tone for an instant before smiling again.
"Okay, I think I can attempt that method." Brennan smiled softly at her friend. "Thank you, and if this messes things up, I'll be back. I really don't want to hurt him Ange."
"I know sweetie." Then she spoke in a serious tone for an instant before smiling again. "Oh and If Jared tries anything like that again, slap him!!"
"Loud and clear Ange." Brennan acknowledged.
Both women jumped however as they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat in her doorway. They looked up to see Booth at them with a charming smile.
"Hey ladies, I don't mean to interrupt…" He glanced at Brennan and could tell she had been crying."But um, you said to find you here when I was done talking to Hodgins. Well, I'm done." He tried to throw them a grin, which he found difficult since he felt somewhat saddened that she was upset.
Brennan simply smiled widely at him and motioned for him to come in and join them. "You're not interrupting, we were actually just finishing our little bout of 'girl talk.'"
"I see." Booth's grin a little wider and truer now as he stepped into the office. "So, Bones, how about we go over to the diner like you promised? I'm getting kind of hungry."
"Sure Booth." She stood and walked towards him, looking back to her friend still sitting on the couch."Bye Ange, and thanks again."
After they made their way out of the office Booth chanced putting his arm around her shoulders, which to his delight she did not protest. He could even feel her leaning into him ever so slightly. His grin simply stretched across his face as he managed to gently pull her in a little bit closer as they made their way to her car.
As they walked towards the dinner he kept glancing over at her, a sly grin on his face. He really wanted to ask her about them, but couldn't figure out how. He thought back to the flashes of memory he had earlier, the one where they kissed in particular, and really wanted to know how that had come about if they were 'just partners.'
They entered and she immediately went to there usual table, one he had already recognized from previous trips to the diner. As they sat across from each other, awaiting their order to arrive, they locked eyes and Booth finally found the nerve to ask her about his memory flashes, or at least the most interesting one. "So, Bones, I uh, earlier when I hugged you I mean, I had a flash of something, an image, or more like a black and white movie playing in my head. I kinda wanted to ask you about it. Not entirely sure if it's real or not."
Brennan smiled at him encouragingly, then reached her hand across the table to place it on top of his. "Booth, you can ask me anything. I want to help you regain your memory remember?"
He began to stroke her hand with his thumb as he spoke, rather nervously, "Well umm…. In the vision thing I had, you… pulled me closer and kissed me. Is that one just my imagination or did it really happen?"
Brennan flushed slightly and tried to hide her grin. "Well Booth, did you notice anything else? Mistletoe perhaps?"
He shook his head, but it already sounded hopeful even if it was just a mistletoe kiss, at least she wasn't denying it happened.
"Well last Christmas, my father and my brother were in Jail. The attorney that could get us a trailer so we could have Christmas together was feeling puckish and stated that she would only get us the trailer if I kissed you, on the lips, under the mistletoe. For a minimum of five steamboats I think she said."
He was nodding now. "Oh, so it was like we were blackmailed into it?"
"Well, I was blackmailed into it, you however were somewhat unwilling to help. That is until Caroline, that's the puckish lawyer, showed up and pushed you under the mistletoe beside me. Hence, why I was pulling you close. You were a good sport about it after though. You and Parker even brought me and my family a tree." She smiled fondly at the memory, looking a little lost in thought.
He didn't speak now, just watched her as she obviously was reliving a fond memory of her own. A fond memory, he thought proudly, that was in partly because of me. His grin spread from ear to ear as he watched the pleasant sentiment play across her face. She looked so peaceful, absolutely beautiful lost in that moment in time. The stress and worry he had seen in her so often, since he had awakened, seemed to have melted away.
They were both brought out of their oblivious trances however as the waitress arrived with their order. They ate silently, stealing quick glances at one another while they ate. Brennan would occasionally reach over and steal a fry off Booths plate, to which he would grin at her. They were comfortable in the silence of the meal. Just sitting across from one another, enjoying the fact that the other was there.