Chapter 22

"Booth, I can manage" Temperance huffed, as she maneuvered her crutches out of the elevator of her building, and into the narrow hallway leading to her apartment.

"Right, I can see that, gimme your keys, can I at least get the door for you? Or were you planning on that too?" he asked her patiently, passing her in the hall and snatching the keys out of her jacket pocket

She said nothing, but grunted as she made her way down the corridor. "I hate these things" she said, more to herself than to him

As they approached her door, there was a plastic pastel bag sitting on the floor in front of her apartment. He stood there a moment and stared down at it, not picking it up

"Booth, I am pretty sure if someone were to leave a bomb on my doorstep, they wouldn't leave it in a pastel purple and pink plastic bag" Temperance said impatiently

"Could you please pick it up and open the door? My arms are killing me here" she complained

He did as she asked, and entered her apartment; he set her bag down beside the door, and brought the purple and pink bag to the table in the kitchen. He set it down and glanced back at Bones. She was making her way to the couch in the living room; she plopped down with a satisfied sigh, and let her crutches clatter to the floor. "I hate those things" she declared again, eyeing the metal crutches with evident distaste.

"Well, you'll be done with them by tomorrow" he soothed, bringing the pastel bag to her.

"Open this" he demanded impatiently

She took the parcel from him and carefully unwrapped the purple and pink bag. Inside, was a beautiful floral arrangement with a card. Booth looked on suspiciously, his arms crossed over his chest

"Who's it from?" he questioned impatiently, hovering over her trying to see

"Booth, you see me holding the card. I haven't opened it yet. I don't know, give me a moment to read it okay?" she told him as she opened the envelope carefully

The front of the card said "hope your feeling better soon"

Inside the card said "enjoyed our time together the other day, looking forward to spending more time together again soon, David"

She stared at the card and the words in front of her, perplexed. It was written in such a way suggesting intimacy, and as though they were rekindling their previous relationship.

She thought they were clear on that. Evidently not.

"Well?" Booth persisted; he'd watched her reaction the entire time as she examined the small card

Temperance paused; this was not something he was going to enjoy seeing. If anything it would cast doubts on her intentions. She couldn't very well not let him see it though either. "It's a get well card" she said, stating the obvious, hoping he wouldn't ask to read it

"Yeah….and? Does it have the secret location of the Holy Grail or what? Can I read it?" he asked, holding out his hand for the little card

"I don't see what the Holy Grail has to do with this Booth" she said to him, and handed him the card, busing herself opening the rest of the floral wrapping paper, and examining the flowers.

He read the card and glanced down to where she was seated. He passed it back to her, his expression unreadable

"Nice" he said finally

"Booth…." She began hesitantly

"No, it was a nice gesture, that's all. Were you going to uh…you know…see him again, or…?" he said quietly

"No no no! In fact, I don't quite understand why he wrote that. He did show interest in resuming our previous relationship, to which I explained I was not interested" she said in a rush, wanting to eliminate the look of uncertainty from his face.

This was not how a new relationship should start out at all, she thought.

"Okay Bones. I trust you" he said, and sat down beside her, he turned to face her, and using his thumb, he guided her chin to face him, so they were inches apart. Their eyes locked, and time seemed to stand still as he leaned in, and kissed her softly. He'd wanted to do this for so long, and here he was, it was finally happening.

He was surprised when she responded so quickly. Her tongue pushed into his mouth and explored his own, tasting, biting. She pulled away and tilted her head back, he trailed kisses down her neck to her collar bone, she leaned closer to him, a soft moan escaped her as she leaned in to meet his lips again. His hand caught in her hair, and the other wound around her waist. I must be in heaven, he thought absently, and then his cell phone chirped from his pocket.

I hate technology he grimaced, as he pulled away, and looked at her. Her lips were slightly swollen from their kiss, her cheeks flushed, her eyes heavy lidded.

"Booth" he grumbled into his phone

"Booth, its Cam!" he groaned and leaned back into the cushions of the couch

"What do you want?" he said shortly, the mood between he and Bones was shot, and Cam was the LAST person he felt like talking to

"Just wanted to know if you wanted to watch a movie or something tonight, I could bring a pizza, some beer, that little red number you like…" she trailed off suggestively

Booth glanced over at Bones uneasily; knowing that she could make out some of their conversation from where she was seated, the volume on his cell phone was turned to the max.

"Cam…No. I told you, we're done" he said in a low tone, his eyes never leaving Bones'. Her brows were furrowed in confusion

"Oh….right. I guess I thought you'd change your mind" Cam said simply "Well, you know where to find me if you do" and she hung up

Temperance stared at him a moment, then "What was that about?"

Booth frowned. "I don't know. I told her we were through, I don't know why she'd think otherwise…" and he looked back at her from the palm of his hand where the phone sat, as if the answer would be found on…you don't think that I…you know…" he trailed off, looking at her with an expectant look

"No no, of course not…it just seems strange to me that both David AND Cam would both be thinking similar lines of thought regarding the status of our former relationships with them" she pointed out

He thought a moment. She was right. That was a strange coincidence. Well, whatever.

"Okay…so where were we?" he wondered aloud, and leaning into her again with a smile

End this chapter

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