He was sitting on the bed when she finished with her shower. Christine sound asleep at his feet.
She glanced in his direction, only briefly, before heading to the chair that sat beside a small side table in the room.
Unsure.
But it only took a nod and a whispered, "C'mere," to make her change direction.
She climbed into the bed and in an instant she collapsed against his side. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his chest. The smell of her damp hair lingered in his nose as he inhaled her scent.
He laid his head against hers and just breathed her in for a moment. Happy to have her in his arms again. Their breathing quickly falling into sync. Their hearts beginning to beat in the same rhythm.
She burrowed her head into his chest.
He let his hands roam around her body. Feeling the tightness in her muscles near her shoulder blades. The sharp angles of her ribs. The protrusion of her hip bone. The subtle roundness of her lower abdomen, the residual fullness that still remained from carrying their child. His hand roamed down her thigh, her pale skin warm under his touch.
He took her hand in his and traced the line of each digit. Then he let his thumb rub against the soft padding of her palm. As he finished his tour, he brought her hand up to his mouth and placed quiet kisses along each knuckle.
Relishing each sense.
Each touch.
Each heartbeat.
Her voice was tentative, quiet like a shy child afraid of being reprimanded by their parents. "Are you angry?"
"Yeah." His voice was gruff, short and to the point.
"But you came to find us?"
He lifted his head to look at her but she kept her face turned into his chest. Unwilling to meet his gaze.
"I couldn't take it anymore. I've been through hell this summer. I finally had you. I had Christine. I had everything that I ever wanted. And then it just all vanished. So, yes, I'm angry."
"I haven't dealt well with our separation either. At times, as unscientific as it sounds, I even found it hard to draw a breath."
"I'm sorry Bones. If I could change any of this . . ."
She cut him off. Confused. "But this is my fault. Not yours. You don't need to apologize. I need to apologize. I need to make this right. Somehow."
"This isn't your fault. This is Pellant's fault. I won't listen to you blame yourself for this. So just stop." His voice was louder than he intended and their daughter stirred in her sleep.
She finally turned in his arms enough to see his face. "I need to know that you're going to be okay."
"I'm not okay. But it's fine. Because there's no me. There's no you. There's only us now. Okay? And this. . . This whole mess? It isn't going to destroy us. It might have brought me to my knees. And it may have broken you. But it's nothing to us. Nothing can break us."
"Normally I'd find such a statement disturbing and unacceptable to my sense of independence as a highly successful female. But right now I find that assessment to be quite comforting."
And for that first night back together, and all the nights that followed, they both found comfort in one another's touch.
For threesquares. I hope this is everything you hoped it would be. Thank you for all your kind words. :)
And thanks to Jaime for the insanely quick beta job. You rock chick!