A/N: Thank you guys for all the feedback you've been giving. =] And even thanks to all the lurkers, just for reading. xD
I've been on a roll the past couple days with the speedy writing. I don't know why, but, knowing me, it'll probably pass soon. But, anyway, this chapter isn't nearly as intense as the last few have been. I figured we all needed a break from the intensity.
Chapter Twelve
"He tells me in his bedroom voice
'Come on, honey, let's go make some noise'.
Time, it goes so fast
when you're having fun
It's just another manic Monday."
-"Manic Monday" by The Bangles
"Bones?" Brennan could very faintly hear a man's voice through her sleeping state.
For a split second, she was ready to wake up alone, go get ready for work, and stay until Cam and Angela forced her to leave, but then she realized that something was different. Light wasn't streaming through her blinds, and she was able to feel a very warm and alive body under hers, stroking her shoulder blades affectionately before running their hands down her bare back. And then she realized it was Booth.
"Hi," she whispered, her voice low and sleepy as she looked up at him
"Hi," he whispered back, with a small laugh, kissing her hair gently, "did I really tire you out that much?"
"Shut up," Brennan laughed lightly, glancing at the clock to see that not much time had passed since she fell asleep, "and I was getting a nice rest. Why did you wake me up?"
"Because I have to leave soon," he reminded her, watching as she turned over onto her stomach to rest her chin against his chest, looking up at him, "Hannah will get suspicious."
Brennan frowned as he cradled the back of her head, feeling strangely comfortable snuggled up under the several layers of sheets and blankets with her ex-partner.
"Hey," he tried to cheer her up, seeing the distressed look on her face, "I'll see you soon, okay? I'm not leaving forever."
Booth figured she was upset because they just had an amazing night together, and he wasn't even going to stay with her, but she actually had something else on her mind.
"Are you going to have sex with her when you get home?" She asked.
He looked at her with a shocked expression, unsure as to why she would even ask him something like that.
"No, Bones, of course not," he promised her, leaning down to kiss her forehead softly, seeing her wrinkle her nose and recoil slightly from his kiss. When he noticed her reluctance to be affectionate all of the sudden, he sighed, feeling like this was one step forward and two steps back. "Stop, Bren. Don't do this."
His voice trailed when he realized he'd called her Bren, the name she was known by when he was in his coma.
"I'm not going to pretend it doesn't bother me that you're going to go home and share a bed with another woman," she told him, honestly, "you should just be honest with her. Tell her that you're in love with somebody else. You don't have to say it's me."
Booth sighed, taking her hand to intertwine their fingers.
"I'm working on it," he told her, honestly, "I just want to wait. I want to make this as easy as possible for her."
Brennan wasn't going to say anything, but she honestly could care less how Hannah felt at the moment. She wanted Booth to be hers and only hers, feeling possessive all of the sudden. After what happened between them that night, she didn't want to share him anymore. She couldn't stomach the thought of him going home and touching Hannah like that.
"So what are you going to do? Just not have sex with her until you figure out how you want to break up?" Brennan asked, not being a smart ass, just honestly unable to follow his logic, "thatwill make her suspicious. You two share a bed, you probably had a fairly active sex life. If you just stop all together, she'll know something's wrong."
"I'm gonna play it by ear, alright, Bones?"
"I don't know what that means."
"I'm going to take it one step at a time, let things go as they may."
Brennan huffed, moved off of him, and turned onto her side, facing the wall. She was ready to explode from the anger she was holding inside, until she felt soft kisses moving up her shoulder, causing her to relax just slightly.
"That, Booth, is an effective method of getting people to forgive you," she had to laugh lightly, purring when his hand snaked around her waist, tracing small, irregular, shapes on her stomach, "that feels good."
After a few more seconds, he stopped, letting his head rest against her shoulder.
"I really am trying, Bones," he promised her, feeling her nod, her hair brushing against his face when she did, "and I really do love you."
"I know," she assured him.
"No, you don't," his voice was slightly more stern than before, "because the way I'm acting, it isn't showing you that. I know the fact that I won't break up with Hannah is probably giving you doubts," Brennan stayed silent, knowing that was true, "but, I swear, that has nothing to do with you. That's all me. I do love you, Bones, but, I feel something for her too, and I can't just drop everything and leave her. She deserves better than that."
"And you think better than that is cheating on her and skating around breaking up with her?" Brennan asked, "Just avoiding her until you find a suitable way to break her heart?"
"You know, it's when you say things like that, that I get annoyed," the irritation was obvious in his voice, yet, he made no effort to pick his head up from where it was resting against her shoulder of remove his arm from around her waist, "that's not helping. You're not making this any easier."
Brennan closed her eyes, taking the hand he had resting on her stomach to hold it in hers.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, seeing that she was wrong to snap at him, even though, what he was doing to she and Hannah was in fact wrong, "that, was not appropriate of me."
"No, it's fine," he shrugged it off, "I deserved it."
"Yeah," Brennan agreed, "you kind of deserved it."
"That's the part where you're supposed to say 'Oh no, Booth, of course you didn't'," he teased, kissing her shoulder softly.
"I'm not shy about telling the truth. That's something you should know about me by now," she reminded him.
"Hm," he chuckled, feeling Brennan press her back against his chest to feel the vibrations when he spoke, "that's very true."
Brennan shifted when the cold metal of his watch pressed against the warm skin of her stomach, reminding him to glance at the time. Seeing that it was already late, and he really couldn't put off leaving anymore, he kissed the top of her head softly before unwrapping his arms from around her waist and leaning away from her.
"Leaving?" Brennan asked, the disappointment apparent in her voice.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, looking over his shoulder before he went to put his pants back on, seeing that Brennan was watching his back as he did so, "you know I wouldn't if I had the choice."
"I know," Brennan huffed, turning over onto her back, placing her arms behind her head, "the stigmas of having an affair."
"Trust me, Bones, that isn't even close to being the biggest stigma of having an affair," he laughed bitterly, pulling his shirt back over his shoulders before he stood up, leaning down to kiss her head one last time before he left, "I'll see you tomorrow, right? Lunch break? The hotel a few blocks down from the Jeffersonian?"
"That is so dirty," she laughed, the idea of sneaking away on their lunch break to have a quickie exciting her, "are you sure they'll have vacancy?"
"Bones, they're never booked up," he rolled his eyes playfully at her careful planning, "worst comes to worst, we'll play out your fantasy in the diner bathroom."
Brennan blinked, watching as he buttoned up his shirt with an amused smile on his face.
"You're just joking, right?" She asked.
"Maybe," Booth smiled, keeping his answer vague, as he finished up and opened her bedroom door to leave, "tomorrow. Hotel. Lunch break. I'll see you there."
"It's a date," she half smiled, waving to him as he left the her bedroom, and, ultimately, her apartment.
Brennan turned back over onto her side, a small smile still on her face. As much as she knew she should have cared that she was the 'other woman', she didn't, because, not only was she happy being with Booth, but she knew, if anyone was the 'other' woman, it was Hannah.
It was about eight in the morning when Brennan finally got around to getting up and getting ready for work, and by about nine, she was walking out of her apartment, coffee in hand, making her way to the elevator, where she stood patiently waiting for it. She got a minimal amount of sleep that night, and found herself yawning every few minutes, but she knew she would have picked making love with Booth over sleep any day.
"Temperance?" She heard a voice ask, pulling her out of her thoughts.
She turned around to see her neighbor, Lydia, standing outside her door. Lydia was an older woman, maybe in her early to mid fifties, and she had lived next door to Brennan with her husband for a few years now. The two of them had been the typical neighborly types, always saying hello when they'd see each other, occasionally stopping to talk about the weather, or something going on in another part of the world.
"Hello, Lydia," Brennan turned away from the elevator to smile at her, "nice to see you."
"Yes, you too," Lydia smiled back, "I was actually hoping I'd catch you. Can I steal a few minutes from you before you leave? There's something I wanted to talk to you about."
"Sure," Brennan agreed, stepping away from the elevator, even though it had already stopped on her floor and opened, going over to her neighbor's door to meet up with her.
Lydia looked at her neighbor, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and the way she covered her mouth to yawn every few minutes.
"You look exhausted," she observed.
"Yes, I didn't get much sleep last night," Brennan shrugged.
"I think I have an idea of why," Lydia looked at her, having an almost apologetic look on her face, "I didn't get much sleep either."
Brennan looked at her neighbor with a confused expression. How could she possibly know why she didn't get a good sleep the night before? She didn't know about why Lydia was up, but she was kept up for the majority of the night by her partner. Unless Lydia thought there was something in the air that was keeping their floor awake or something, then she wasn't exactly sure what she thought she knew.
"I, don't understand," Brennan tilted her head slightly in confusion.
"Well, dear, I don't mean to embarrass you, but," she could see that her neighbor looked uncomfortable with what she was about to say, "you and your boyfriend, you were a little," she paused, and Brennan could see her face turn a light shade of red, "well, you were a little, noisy last night. I'm not mad, I mean, the walls here are really thin, so it's not your fault, but, I mean, I know you have men over, I've seen them leaving your apartment, but yesterday," she paused again, "well, dear, it was a little too loud. My husband and I couldn't sleep."
Brennan normally wasn't shy or embarrassed about her sex life, but, for some reason, knowing that her neighbors knew what was going on in her apartment the night prior made her want to move away and never come back.
"I'm, so sorry," she apologized, nearly choking on the words, "I-I'll never have him over again. We'll go somewhere else. I'm so sorry we kept you up. I promise, it won't happen again."
"Temperance, I'm not saying you can never have him over again," Lydia laughed lightly, "who am I to stop you from seeing your boyfriend? Just, if you do, all I ask is for you to be conscious of the noise, that's all. No harm done."
"Alright," Brennan was still immensely embarrassed, but tried to keep it under control, "I do apologize for your inconvenience though. I should have been more conscious."
"Nothing to apologize for," she assured her, "it happens to the best of us."
"I've never had to complain to you before," Brennan reminded her.
"Dear, don't worry about it," Lydia laughed, "don't consider it a complaint, I'm just informing you that over here, we just, we know what's going on over there."
"Well, thank you for the, information, then," Brennan rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly with the hand that wasn't holding her coffee, "but I really have to go to work."
"Oh, no, I don't want to keep you from your job," she waved her neighbor off, "have a good day, Temperance."
"You too," Brennan responded, having to wait for the elevator to get to her floor again after she pressed the button, feeling as if it were taking an extra long time that day, simply because she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Booth stood in front of the mirror in the hotel room bathroom in his boxers and his open dress shirt, just staring at himself in the mirror. He looked behind him when he felt a body wrap around his waist from behind, Brennan's cheek pressing against his shoulder blade.
"Is it just me or is this whole sneaking around thing really hot?" He asked, his tone having a lightness to it, as he looked at her through the mirror.
He had to admit, it was a sight. Standing there with Brennan wrapped around his waist, her chin resting on his shoulder, their reflections staring back at them. He hoped she realized how right it looked too, and that this wasn't just all in his head.
Brennan nodded in agreement, her hands roaming over the warm skin of his abdomen.
"Mhm," she agreed, pressing a kiss to his fabric covered back, "I'm just curious as to why you're staring at yourself in the mirror."
"I have sex hair," he told her simply, "the guys at work are going to know that 'lunch' is not really the appropriate word for what went on over this forty five minutes."
"I think you're just paranoid," she ruffled her hands through his hair after he spoke of it, "besides, they'll think you just went home to meet Hannah or something."
"What if she comes by and notices?"
"Okay, now you're really just being paranoid. Relax, Booth, we're being very discreet, if I do say so myself," she thought back to that morning, and the conversation she had with her neighbor, "although, I may have to rearrange my apartment, or move, or just never have you there ever again, at least not at night."
"Um, why?" Booth asked, not following her logic.
"My neighbor had to have a word with me this morning," she told him, seeing his eyebrow furrow in the reflection of the mirror, "apparently we were, vocal."
"Oh," his face grew hot when she shared the information with him, "sorry."
"It was just as much me as it was you," she laughed, "I tend to get vocal."
"I know," Booth laughed, "I was there."
Brennan leaned her head to the side from where her chin was resting on his shoulder, her locks of brown hair brushing against his neck when she did.
"How long until we have to go back?" She asked.
Booth glanced at his watch, adjusting it when he realized the face had gotten misplaced on his wrist from their lust filled romp just a few minutes prior.
"Ten minutes," he told her, hearing her whine in his ear, her eyes shutting in frustration, "what's the matter? Were you hoping for round two?"
"Kind of," she admitted, unwrapping herself from around his waist so she could move to stand next to him, "and I was going to suggest tonight, but you already left home last night, so you probably wouldn't want to in fear that Hannah would get suspicious."
"I'm sorry," he apologized simply, not even bothering to confirm her thoughts, since they both knew it was true, "maybe I'll just tell her that we can't stay together because she doesn't want kids. And, you know, I want a house full."
"Or you could just tell her the truth," Brennan suggested.
"What? 'Sorry, but I'm in love with Bones, thanks for playing though'?"
"Playing?" She asked, "Playing what?"
Booth just sighed and shook his head at how clueless she was sometimes.
"Never mind," he laughed half-heartedly, "I'll think of something, Bones, I promise. And if I can't think of anything, I'll take your advice and tell her the truth."
"You should tell her the truth to begin with," Brennan mumbled.
Neither of them were completely sure why she was so obsessed with him telling Hannah the truth. Booth figured she'd be happy with anything he told her, as long as they were breaking up, but Brennan, for reasons she was unsure of, wanted his girlfriend to know the real reason he was leaving her. Maybe it was her human instinct that she wanted Hannah to know that she was being broken up with for her. She, subconsciously, wanted her to be jealous.
"Two months," Booth said, simply.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Give me two months to get myself together."
"Booth, two months is a very long time."
Brennan chewed on her bottom lip nervously. She didn't want to complain, since he was only asking for two months to prepare to do what may be the hardest thing he'd ever have to do, but she wanted him to herself. She didn't want to wait two months to have him, to not have to sneak around like a couple of teenagers, and she didn't care how selfish it sounded.
"I know," he admitted, "but I need time, Bones. Not because I'm doubting the way I feel about you, but just because, this isn't easy for me."
"I know," Brennan assured him, placing her palm against his bicep to stroke it softly, "I know, Booth."
Booth leaned down to kiss the top of her head wrapping an arm around her shoulder to pull her close.
"I love you," he whispered into her hair.
"I know," Brennan assured him, closing her eyes in serenity, "I know."
"Two months. That's all I'm asking for, and all I'll need."
"Fine," Brennan caved, leaning into his chest, "you have two months to leave Hannah."
