Disclaimer: Hart Hanson owns Bones, not me.
April 25, 1988
Temperance Brennan was a nervous wreck.
It was the day after she and Booth had decided to attempt a tentative, romantic relationship. A tentative, romantic, surreptitious relationship.
Now it was Monday morning, and they were set to face Pops, Jared and the entire school, pretending like nothing had changed.
This was exactly the reason why she was sneaking into her boyfriend's room at four thirty in the morning.
Closing the door behind her, she was careful to tip-toe carefully into the room, not making any noise. Booth, she noted with a fond smile, was laying on his stomach, his arms spread eagle wide as though he was trying to take up the entire space, and snoring away into his pillow.
Like she had done the first morning she had ever woken up in the Booth household, and a few times after whenever she had a nightmare involving one of her more abusive foster parents, Temperance crouched down next to Booth's bed.
"Booth," she whispered, placing a hand on his arm and shaking him slightly. He snorted once, and burrowed his head deeper into the pillow, but he didn't wake. She rolled her eyes. "Booth, wake up!"
Snort. Snore.
"Don't make me poke you…"
Snort.
"I'm up!" Booth mumbled, lifting his head and blinking at her blearily. "Bones…Why… What…Ugh," he trailed off incoherently. Sneaking a look at his alarm clock, he groaned and dropped his head back on the pillow. "You've gotta stop waking me up too early, babe."
Despite the fact that him calling her 'babe' gave her a weird sort of warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest, spreading throughout her whole body - something that she would never admit to anyone out loud - Temperance scowled at him.
"Don't call me 'babe'."
Booth was awake enough to give her a leery grin. "Aw, come on…You got used to 'Bones', you'll get used to 'babe'."
"I didn't get used to 'Bones'," she retorted, glaring at him. "You just wouldn't stop calling me that."
Booth chuckled, rolling to his side and propping his head up by his elbow. "You know you'd miss it if I stop calling you 'Bones'," he teased, reaching out with his other hand to smooth back her hair from her face.
Temperance chose to ignore that, knowing that she would miss it if Booth were to stop using the silly moniker he'd given her just a few weeks into their tentative friendship months ago. She had gotten so familiar with the name that she would be worried if he'd stop out of nowhere.
"I'm worried," she admitted quietly.
Booth's smile slipped from his lips. "About what, baby?" he asked, scooting up until he was sitting up against the headboard of his bed.
Temperance shrugged, "About keeping it a secret…I don't know if I can."
Booth reached out, grasping Temperance's hand and tugging gently. "C'mere, baby," he urged, leading her to a standing position and pulling lightly until she was sitting on his bed. "You've got nothing to be worried about."
Temperance gave him a glare. "Yes, I do," she insisted. "You know I'm a terrible liar, Booth. What if I…What if I can't do it? What if I mess it up or I slip up and I say something and it gets out…I mean, I'm pretty sure I can't stay in the same house as my boyfriend slash foster brother, Booth."
"Hey, hey, shh," he murmured, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her close so that she was sitting up against the headboard next to him, trying not to cringe at the word 'brother'. He had to smile when Temperance snuggled to his side, her arms wrapped around his waist and her head resting against the hollow of his throat. "We're gonna be just fine, Bones."
She looked up at him through accusing eyes. "You don't know that," she pointed out. "Logically…You can't promise me that."
He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Screw logic," he joked. "We've got us on our side. We can't lose."
Temperance stared at him confusedly. "I…Don't think that makes any sense, Booth," she told him, blinking rapidly a few times.
Booth laughed, leaning in to brush a kiss against her cheek. "It makes sense," he assured her. "It means that it doesn't matter if the odds are against us, Bones. We're Booth and Bones. We're the center of our world, of everything we're going to make it out to be. We'll stay strong. We're the center."
Even though his words were sort of convoluted, Temperance could understand what he was trying to say. "And the center must hold," she said, realization coloring her voice with an almost surprised nuance. "We have to hold."
Booth nodded, a pleased smile flitting across his face, happy that she had understood his meaning. "We'll hold," he repeated, a reassurance for the both of them.
Temperance nodded, sighing. "I should get back to my room," she said after a few moments of just being wrapped up in his warm embrace. "It's not even five in the morning…You should get some sleep."
Booth, already drifting in and out of sleep again, moaned his disapproval, his arms tightening their hold on her. "No," he groaned, sliding further down his bed and taking her with him so that they were laying down facing each other, side by side. "Stay here."
Temperance laughed, swatting at his shoulder half-heartedly. "I can't stay here, Booth," she rolled her eyes, unable to hide her large, happy smile. "What if Pops or Jared walks in? We're supposed to be discreet."
Booth, eyes closed, simply drew her closer so that their bodies were practically pressed together. "They won't come in here," he mumbled sleepily, dropping his head to burrow his nose into her soft hair. "Stay here."
She had every intention of pushing his arms away, telling him that it just wasn't smart for her to stay in his bed and going back to her room, but he was already snoring away.
Temperance smiled, brushing her fingers across his defined cheekbones. As she watched him sleep, it occurred to her just how…Different he looked like compared to when he was awake. He was more peaceful somehow. It made her heart race watching him all sweet and calm and happily oblivious to the world.
She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "Sweet dreams, Booth," she whispered almost inaudibly, quietly slipping out of his arms and out of his room.
Temperance was sure she wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep. She took a quick shower, changed into clothes for school, sat on her bed and got started on Madame Bovary.
"Bones?"
She looked up, her brows furrowing together when she noticed Booth standing at her doorway. He wasn't wearing sweatpants and a wife beater - his general preference for clothes to wear before heading to bed - but was in his jeans and leather jacket.
"Booth, what are you doing up?" she asked, confused, as she placed her bookmark in place and closed the book.
Booth looked decidedly amused as he stepped into the room. "Bones, it's seven oh five," he informed her, making her eyes go round in shock as she swung her head around to look at the clock on her wall. She gasped as she noticed that he was right - she had been so engrossed in her reading that she hadn't even noticed the time.
She quickly scrambled off the bed, taking her book with her to place on her desk. "I didn't realize," she muttered, bustling about the room as she put away her book and grabbed the necessary things to finish getting ready for school.
Booth watched her for a moment, dark eyes following her movements as she went about the room. He knew he didn't have to be careful, at least not too much at the moment, but that would all change the moment they stepped out of her room and went down to face the rest of their world, starting with his grandfather and his nosy brat of a brother.
Despite the reassurances he'd given to Temperance in the wee hours of the morning - that was, if that hadn't been a bizarre dream, since he'd been too sleepy to really make sure - he himself was nervous about their relationship.
It wasn't just the secrecy he was worried about, although he was scared that something might happen and he would be forcefully separated from Temperance. He didn't want to be apart from her, and he didn't want her to be forced to live somewhere else. Not when he knew, without a doubt, that living with Pops was the best thing for her. He couldn't trust her in the hands of someone else, in the hands of a stranger.
One of the main things he was worried about was screwing things up with her. She had become something much more than just his biology partner. She was now his best friend, his confidant. She was the best thing to have happened to him since his grandfather had saved him. He understood that it was a big risk being in a romantic relationship with her because everything was so much more important. He couldn't afford to screw things up because that would mean that he would screw up their friendship, as well.
Losing her forever, having her estranged from his life, wasn't something he could ever stand for.
Stepping towards her, where she was standing in front of the vanity, brushing her hair out, he wrapped his arms around her middle from behind.
Temperance blinked a few times, jolted out of her own thoughts about the coming day, when she felt Booth's arms around her. She smiled at him through the mirror, leaning back into him and sighing contentedly at the feel of his warm body enveloping hers.
"I'm scared, too," Booth admitted in a soft murmur, bending slightly to place his chin on her shoulder.
Temperance froze, placing the hairbrush she'd been using on her vanity table and pressing her hands on the arms wrapped around her waist. "You are?" she whispered. At his nod, she seemed to be more nervous than before. "If we're both nervous…How is it going to work?"
Booth turned his head to press a kiss to the side of her head, his lips brushing over soft hair. "Hey," he interrupted her panicked thoughts. "Just because we're afraid doesn't mean we should stop living out our lives. It doesn't mean we should stop going for what we want."
He spun her around, hands spanning over her petite waist. "And I want you," he told her softly, chocolate eyes boring into sparkling blue, their foreheads pressed together.
Temperance smiled, reaching her arms up to slide her fingers through his carefully spiked hair. "I want you, too," she admitted softly, leaning up to brush a kiss on his lips. "I just want everything to be okay."
He brushed his thumb gently across her bottom lip. "You know the thing that sucks the most about keeping this a secret?"
"No. What?"
Booth sighed, tangling his fingers in her silky hair. "We can't do this for the whole day," he gripped her by the hair gently, tilting her head up to kiss her soft lips. "I'm gonna miss kissing you."
Temperance rolled her eyes even though she couldn't stop smiling goofily up at him. "You are such a dork, Seeley Booth," she teased. "It's just going to be a few hours…After school, we can kiss all we want."
A large cocky grin spread across his lips. "Hmm…I like the sound of that," he murmured, chuckling as her lean arms wrapped around his waist, her nose nuzzling his throat lovingly.
A sudden thought crossed his mind, and he pulled back from her embrace slightly, just enough to look into her beautiful eyes. "Hey, I have an idea," he said, a smile in his voice.
Temperance hummed to signify that she was listening.
"You know, I don't know how long we have to pretend we're not together in front of the others…" he started.
Temperance interrupted, "Probably until high school is over and I'm emancipated from the state, if we end up together that long."
He nodded fervently. "Oh, yeah, we're gonna last much longer than that," he said firmly, believing in his own words. "My point is…It's gonna be a long time before we could be together and not hide it. All I know is that I'm always going to want to kiss you out there, but I can't, so…Let's start a new tradition."
Temperance gave him a look. "What is it with you and traditions?" she asked, even as she eyed him curiously.
He chuckled. "Well, I'm just saying…And it's a good tradition, too…But if you don't want to hear it…"
"No, I want to," she was quick to assure him.
Booth grinned. "Since we have to pretend like we're not together for most of the day…Why don't we, every morning before school, we stand right here, and we give each other a proper kiss," he suggested.
"A proper kiss?"
"Mm-hmm," he hummed in agreement. "Sort of like this."
Cupping her lovely face in his palms, Booth brought his mouth to hers, capturing her lips in a sweet, tender kiss.
"Mmm…I think I like this new tradition of yours," Temperance whispered, looking up at him through glassy eyes.
Booth chuckled, his large hand brushing through her hair a few times as he gazed down at her. "I don't know if I ever told you this, Bones…But I adore you," he murmured softly, watching in fascination as her creamy porcelain cheeks slowly flushed a beautiful rosy pink color.
Temperance sighed, humming in the back of her throat, as she reached her arms up to lock around Booth's neck. "Charmer," she teased, her voice low and coy, as she stood up on her tip-toes, her head tilted as she reached up to press her lips against his.
Their lips melded together, her mouth parting to swallow his warm chuckle. This was a different sort of kiss - slow and filled with sweet desperation. Hands wandered, spanning over smooth, clothed skin, fingers tangled in soft hair, bodies pressed as close as they could get.
Temperance pulled away first, her lips slowing as she gathered enough strength to break apart. "We have to stop or Pops is probably going to come up and find us," she pointed out rationally, her voice barely above a whisper. "We're almost late as it is."
He groaned, dropping his head on her shoulder and breathing in her scent. The sweet scent of her did nothing to calm him down, but he was hard pressed to let go of her. She seemed to understand, her own small, feminine hands smoothing down his back repeatedly in an endless loop.
Finally, Booth turned his head, pressed a gentle kiss to her pulse point and unwrapped his arms from around her with a final squeeze of her petite frame.
He grasped her chin gently with his fingers and brought her mouth to his for a painfully brief, hard kiss. "Come on, let's get some breakfast - I'm starved," he said, taking her by the hand to lead her out of the room.
Temperance chuckled at his words, teasingly replying with, "Are you ever not hungry?"
Pops and Jared were already at the table when they went downstairs. Pops was reading the paper, squinting at the words even with his glasses on. Jared was barely awake, like most mornings, his head on the table, his eyes half closed, one hand lazily swirling his spoon in his bowl of soggy cereal.
Booth wrinkled his nose at his brother's less than appealing breakfast, choosing instead to grab some toast. Temperance poured a glass of juice for both Booth and herself. "Good morning, Pops," she greeted her new caretaker with a smile. "Good morning, Jared."
Jared groaned a wordless reply, not lifting his head from the table.
Pops rolled up one of the unread sections, lightly hitting Jared on the shoulder with it. "Would ya wake up already?" he groused at the boy, rolling his eyes. Turning his head, Pops offered Temperance a warm smile. "Morning, Tempe. You look nice."
Temperance blushed, picking at the sleeve of one of the shirts she'd bought with Amy and her sister all those weeks ago but had never worn because she hadn't thought she could pull it off. She'd wanted to wear something nice today, though, since it would be the first day, not counting their time at the lake yesterday, that they would officially be a couple, albeit in secret.
"Yeah, Bones," Booth added, trying not to smirk since he knew that she'd tried to look nice for him. He wasn't going to complain since she looked all pretty, but he was a little smug about it. He ignored the little voice at the back of his mind reminding him of how he'd changed into six different shirts before settling on the one he was wearing now. "You look beautiful."
Temperance half-scowled when she noted the mischief dancing in his eyes – she knew he knew she'd 'sort of' dressed up for him – and half-smiled at his compliment. "Thanks," she muttered, biting back a smile of her own as her cheeks continued to burn.
Pops watched their interaction with narrowed eyes – the two of them had always had a less than conventional relationship: everything they said was as though they were subconsciously flirting, they were undeniably close and the moments they shared every so often felt too private sometimes for others to witness.
But this was different somehow.
There was something between them that had changed, and though he wasn't sure what it was or if it was anything to be concerned over, he was still suspicious.
Booth caught the look his grandfather was giving them as he sat down next to Temperance. Wiping the smile off his face, he handed two pieces of toast to her. "Here, eat up – we're going to be late," he told her, scarfing down his own breakfast. Shooting a look at his brother, Booth aimed a sharp kick to Jared's leg.
Jared jumped in his seat, sitting upright, and glared at Booth. "Pops! Seeley kicked me," he complained.
"Ah, what are you, two?" Booth rolled his eyes. "Wake up or I'm not driving you to your school."
Once they were done with breakfast, the three of them hurried out of the house, waving goodbye to Pops. Booth and Temperance were mostly silent while Booth drove to Jared's school – even if his brother was snoring away in the back, Booth wasn't going to risk him hearing anything he shouldn't – but the moment Jared was out of the car, Booth and Temperance held hands every time the car halted to a stop, sneaking quick kisses at every red light.
"Are you still nervous?" Temperance asked him as the school building loomed into sight.
"Yeah. You?"
"Yes."
They stayed silent for a long while, Booth driving into the school parking lot and finding a parking space. "It'll be fine," he said, trying to reassure both of them. "It'll be weird, but fine."
Temperance frowned. "Why would it be weird?"
Booth shrugged, "I've never had a secret girlfriend before…Don't really know how that's gonna go."
"Oh."
Seeing her down turned lips, Booth almost reached out a hand to cup her cheek. Almost. He had to remind himself that they were in school, and anyone could walk by and look into his car – it wasn't like he had tinted windows, and it wasn't like he was parking at a private spot. "Hey, I didn't mean it as a bad thing," he soothed. "It'll be okay, Bones."
He reached out and quickly, playfully, smoothed out the crease between her eyebrows. "Have I mentioned how pretty you look, Bones?" he asked her, chocolate brown eyes tracing over her feminine features, dusted with a faint coat of make-up to bring out her beauty even more than usual, before locking with wide, innocent blue ones.
"Yes," she answered truthfully. "At the breakfast table. Do you have short term memory loss, Booth? That was barely half an hour ago…"
Booth shook his head, an amused smile playing on the edges of his lips. Sighing, he frowned.
"What's wrong?" Temperance asked, reaching out to grasp his hand in hers – she was fairly certain no one would be able to see that unless they bent and peered into the car windows.
Booth shrugged. "I wish I can kiss you again," he replied despondently.
Temperance rolled her eyes, fighting her own smile. "Booth, you're being irrational," she informed him in a playfully scolding tone.
Booth squeezed her fingers gently before letting go. "C'mon," he urged on another sigh, glancing at the windshield. "We're gonna be late if we stay in here any longer."
As Booth and Temperance were to figure out – it was a whole lot easier to hide things at school than it was at home.
At home, they had Jared, an incredibly nosey little brother with a completely pointless crush on Temperance, and they had Pops, a grandfather slash caregiver who had his eyes wide open even if Booth and Temperance didn't notice it. He was far too perceptive and both teenagers were constantly worried that they'd slipped up without realizing.
At school, however, things were much different. They had just a few classes together, and even then, Temperance was so focused on taking down notes and doing labs perfectly that they didn't have time to be all 'boyfriend-girlfriend-y', as Booth had put it. Lunch time was spent, just the two of them, in the back aisles of the library – that was a plus for Booth, once he'd managed to pry away the completely uninteresting book she was reading about bugs or something from her. After school, they each had their own extracurricular activities – Booth with basketball and Temperance with whatever 'geek club' she was in to help boost up her college transcript.
All they had to do at school to hide their relationship was keep their hands – and their lips – to themselves. They were normally so close anyway, with inside jokes that nobody else understood and with secret smiles everyone else didn't get to share, that nobody bat an eyelash anymore. They were so used to the abnormal friendship the basketball star and the geeky nobody shared by now.
Now, they returned home from school to an empty house – not an uncommon thing, considering Pops maintained that just because he was old didn't mean he couldn't have an active social life. Jared was probably off hanging out with friends, like he normally did.
Taking advantage of their alone time, Booth started a game of cat and mouse the moment the front door swung close. He finally chased Temperance, giggling and making little surprised squeals every time he came close to ensnaring her in the cage of his arms, all the way up to her bedroom.
His long legs caught up to her, ending the playful chase that would've finished before it started had it been real, his lean arms wrapping around her waist and tackling her to her soft bed, the two of them laughing at the childish game they were playing.
Rolling their bodies over so that he was hovering above her, face to face, they smiled at one another, their laughter ceasing and melting into tender smiles. Brennan reached up, her arms snaking around his neck as he kept his weight off of her as much as possible, arms on either side of her head.
"You know," she mused aloud. "You were right. Today wasn't all that bad."
He chuckled, nodding in agreement. "So whaddaya think, Bones? Do you think we can pull this off?" and despite the lighthearted tone of his voice, she could see that he meant the question from the serious look in his warm eyes.
She considered for a moment, her genius mind working a mile a minute as she thought of the precautions they'd need to take.
As she'd observed earlier in the day, it was easy to get around school pretending she and Booth weren't a couple. She wasn't such a fan of Cam, or any of the other girls who'd apparently gotten over Booth's 'betrayal' of Katie (oh, the dramatics of high school students), throwing themselves at Booth but her boyfriend was very gentlemanly when he turned them all down. If only to herself, Brennan had to admit that she received a sick sort of smug pride in witnessing such a thing. Booth was clearly an alpha, clearly the most coveted male, and he wasn't for the taking for any of the other girls.
She wasn't too sure about lying to Pops, however. She owed him a lot, for saving her and taking her in. It wasn't something he had to do and she didn't know how she would ever be able to repay him. Lying to him wasn't something she wanted to do but she didn't know if Pops would help them with their secret relationship or tell her he couldn't be her foster parent anymore if he found out. After all, it seemed very unlikely that he would allow her to stay in the same house as Booth when they were teenagers, attracted to each other and openly admitting it, having entered a romantic relationship with each other.
Still, she knew that if it was necessary, she and Booth would do something even as ghastly as lying to Pops to protect their bourgeoning relationship. She would do everything else perfectly, to make up in silent apology for deceiving him, but Booth was far too important to her, some sort of happy, safe, warm presence that was anchoring her to the good things in life she had long ago forgotten existed.
"I think we can," she answered him truthfully, watching as his smile widened. "I'm a genius and you're…You. We can pull it off."
He raised an eyebrow. "Was that a compliment or an insult?" he asked, confused. "I never know with you."
Temperance chuckled, brushing her lips across his throat in gossamer kisses. This, of course, turned into the two of them rolling back and forth across the bed, laughing and stealing kisses every two seconds, before Booth, grinning, gently brushed the tip of his nose against hers in an Eskimo's kiss before lowering his head an inch and capturing her lips in a sweet kiss.
It was strange to her that they hadn't particularly been shy around each other. She knew Booth had had girlfriends before, but she'd never been in a relationship with a boy before him. This was still just the second day of their newfound romantic relationship, and already they were acting as though they'd been together for months, or years.
Everything seemed so familiar with Booth, as though they had been doing this forever. It was irrational and she knew it had to have been influenced by their raging emotions, but she liked that they were so comfortable with each other.
Booth's warm lips on her own, his tongue snaking out to brush against her bottom lip, jolted her out of her thoughts. Without her even realizing it, their hands had been wandering and their lips seared together in a hot and heavy kiss fuelled by teenage hormones.
Even so, they kept their kisses as tame as possible - her hands didn't slide underneath his shirt like she wanted to, his mouth stayed only on her lips and her neck, never straying further.
The slam of the front door made them jump and spring apart from one another, their hearts racing. Booth leaned against her dresser, closing his eyes and trying to control his breathing - and his attraction to her. Temperance, on the other hand, blushed as she kept her gaze on her bed spread, hair mussed and lips swollen red.
The sounds of footsteps climbing loudly up the stairs made them move quickly so that by the time Jared popped his head into the room, Temperance was standing above her desk, school bag in hand as she rummaged through it, and Booth was sprawled on the rug on the floor, flipping absentmindedly through one of her many books, not really reading anything.
"Hey, Tempe," Jared flashed her a smile, throwing Booth a half-curious glare, wondering why his big brother was in her room. "What're you up to?"
"I'm going to go to the library," Temperance announced.
Booth frowned slightly – he'd been hoping to make-out with her while they had the chance. It wasn't like they could do any of that freely when Pops and Jared were in the house. It was too risky, unless they waited until everyone else was asleep. Of course, Jared was back at home now, but he was easy to get rid of if Booth wanted. "You are?"
Temperance nodded, placing her book bag carefully on her desk chair before picking up a stack of thick books Booth wouldn't dare to touch with a ten feet pole. "These are almost overdue," she said, barely able to move her arms under the weight of the heavy books. "I'm just going to return them."
Booth raised an eyebrow and shot her a knowing look. "You're not just going to return the books," he scoffed. "You'll return them, then sit around the library for two hours, just reading stuff, then you'll spend the next thirty minutes picking out the most complex books you could find to borrow, then you'll come home."
Temperance's cheeks flushed a deep red. "I will do no such thing!" she glared at him. When he continued to look at her amusedly, undeterred, she sighed, conceding. "Fine. But I won't be hours, Booth."
He rolled his eyes, scoffing again. "Please," he said sarcastically. "That's what you said the first time I followed you to the library. Never again will I make that mistake…" he pretended to shudder in fright.
Temperance gave him a look. "You're being ridiculous, Booth," she scolded him lightly. "Reading will do you some good. It isn't healthy for you to spend so much time in front of the TV when we're at home, you know?"
Jared, bored now that Temperance and Booth were having one of their squabbles, turned to head to his room, announcing over his shoulder that he was leaving. Neither Temperance nor Booth took much notice, which irritated him enough to slam the door to his room shut with a loud bang.
Booth, sneaking a look at the door to make sure they were really alone, smirked at Temperance. "Well, if we stayed in your room and made out, will that be healthy?" he asked her teasingly, moving with her when she went for the door.
"I'd hit you if I could," Temperance quipped wryly, though he could see the smile she was trying her best to hide.
Booth, eyeing the stack of books in her arms, held out a hand to halt her movements. "Let me carry those for you," he offered.
Temperance glared at him. "Booth! I can handle carrying books, okay? I'm not incompetent," she snapped at him.
Jeez, Booth grumbled silently. Any other girl and I'd be getting flirty smiles and 'oh, thank you, Seeley' gushes and batted eyelashes. A sudden image of Temperance acting as generic as some of the other girls he'd dated caused him to wince. On the other hand, I like that she's unique, he decided. "Alright, alright, fine," he surrendered. "Just wanted to help."
"Well…" she eyed him with narrowed eyes, wondering if he was telling the truth. "Thanks, but I can manage."
"Do you want me to drive you there?" Booth asked as they walked out of the house. "I'm going out myself."
He had been planning on asking Temperance out on a date – a real date, where they didn't need to pretend about anything. He wasn't sure how to ask her, but he figured a romantic gesture was probably in order. Nothing outrageous since firstly, he couldn't afford it, and secondly…It was embarrassing. But he didn't want to just blurt out, 'go out with me', to her. She deserved better than that. He thought he should probably get her some flowers, maybe, and then ask her out.
Temperance looked at him, surprised. All the way from lunch time, he had been complaining about having to be in school and saying how he couldn't wait to get home, and now he that he was home, he wanted to leave? What a strange boy, she mused to herself. "Where are you going?" she asked him curiously.
"Oh, uh, just the court," he lied, not wanting to tell her about the flowers.
Temperance frowned, unsure if she believed him. "Huh, okay," she muttered anyway. "Well, that's in the opposite direction of the library," she pointed out. "I'm just going to take the bus."
Booth shook his head. "No, it's no bother…" he insisted.
Temperance smiled at him. "Really, Booth, it's fine," she assured him. "I'll just take the bus, it's fine."
Booth nodded, sighing. There was just so much he could do without being overbearing. Besides, she was a big girl, he reminded himself. She didn't need him mollycoddling her all the time.
So, with a coy smile and a - risky - quick kiss, they parted ways at the driveway, Booth heading to his car and Temperance heading to the nearest bus stop.
Booth made his way to Mia's Floral Shop, which was in the opposite direction of the library. Even so, he kept shooting glances left and right as he drove, paranoid that Temperance would see him, or that Pops or one of the guys - or, worse, Cam, who had taken to dropping obvious hints every time she saw him - would catch him. The paranoia didn't vanish as he parked his car outside the shop, and it definitely didn't stop as he stepped into the shop.
Why the hell do people feel the need for huge glass windows? Booth thought exasperatedly as he snuck looks at the window. It wasn't like his tall frame was hidden well by all the flower bouquets, and the only other people in the shop was a couple of thirty-something women, and an older woman behind the counter.
Ten minutes passed with him looking at the window more than he was at the flowers - who knew there were so many to choose from? At least with past dates, all I had to do was get roses…Did Bones even like roses? Or are those too clichéd? - and he felt a tap on his shoulder.
Turning around, he found himself face to face with the older woman from behind the desk. "Hello, dear," she sounded friendly enough, even if she was eyeing him suspiciously. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Um, yes?" he replied, taken aback for a moment. Clearing his throat, he spoke in a decidedly more firmer, confident voice. "I was just looking for something to give my girlfriend…"
The woman nodded, a smile forming on her red-painted lips. "Oh, of course," she positively beamed at him. "What sort of flowers does she like?"
Well, lady, if I knew that…
Booth simply shrugged. "I don't know," he mused. "I mean, I guess she's got a thing for daffodils," he remembered the happy smile she wore when she'd caught sight of a few daffodils at the park, on the pathway leading to the lake. She always seemed to like them whenever she saw them near the spot they always sat at when they went before. "But I wanted something…I dunno, more romantic, I guess?"
His face was completely red now, his embarrassment at having divulged something so personal to a virtual stranger catching him off guard.
The woman, however, simply appeared amused. "What's the occasion, dear?"
"Oh, I wanted to ask her out on a date - we haven't been on one, yet," Booth answered. Ugh! He complained to his mind. Isn't there a filter somewhere? Why am I telling her all these things?
It might be the way she looked so kind, or the encouraging smile she wore, or the fact that she reminded him so completely of his grandmother, but Booth found himself telling her about his situation with Temperance, all the secrecy - though he gave vague details, and was sure not to reveal too much this time.
In five minutes, she had wrapped up a bouquet of the perfect flowers for him. "My husband, Tom - bless his soul - used to give me gardenias all the time," the woman - Mia, as he'd been asked to call her - told him with a wistful smile as she rang his purchases. "Not just in bouquets like these, but sometimes he'd put out a bowl of water and let a couple of the flowers float in them…He was a romantic one, he was. Here you go, dear. I'm sure she'll love these. It'll be perfect."
He thanked Mia, giving her extra tip just because she'd been so helpful, and hurried out of the store. He needed to get home before Temperance, and he'd still need time to sneak around the house with a bouquet of flowers, undetected by either Pops or Jared.
He saw Jared heading out of the house with a friend he hung out with often, Mickey whatshisname, as he was pulling up into the house. He supposed he was lucky on that front. Pops' beat up old car, however, was in the driveway, so Booth parked behind it and turned off the engine, just mulling over how best to get inside the house without being detected.
Should I sneak in the back? He wondered, before shaking his head. Pops could be in the back, either sitting on the back porch or doing something in the kitchen or the laundry room, all of which he'd have to pass if he went in through the back.
Deciding to risk it, Booth grabbed the bouquet of flowers and snuck in very quietly through the front door. He practically tip-toed across the living room and was halfway up the first landing of the staircase when Pops' voice called out.
"Shrimp? Is that you!"
Booth spun around, one foot on a different stair, and stuck the bouquet behind his back just in time as Pops wandered out of the kitchen and came in sight. "Yeah, Pops, just got back," he said, hoping his grandfather didn't ask where he'd been.
Pops nodded. "Okay, well, I'm headed out to grab some take-out from Hal's," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I'll be back in a while."
Booth smiled and nodded. "Okay. See you later," he said, watching as his grandfather left, muttering under his breath about how Hal's still didn't have delivery services after all these years.
Once Pops was out the door, Booth did a little celebratory jig on the stairs, before climbing the rest of the way.
"Bones?" he called out as he walked down the hallway towards her room. "Bones, you in here? Anywhere? Bones!"
When he received no reply, Booth grinned. "Excellent," he murmured to himself.
Stepping into her room, he made his way towards her bedside table. She already had a vase there, but the purple flowers that had been there once had wilted away and she hadn't placed any new flowers in them. Booth hurriedly prepared his surprise for her, running in and out of her room to get water for the vase and to grab an unused, clear bowl from the kitchen.
He heard someone closing the front door, and froze. Looking around to make sure that his surprise was placed perfectly before running out of her room. He dashed towards the stairs, peering below to see the silhouette of a certain brunette, fourteen year old girl. Grinning excitedly, Booth ran back in the direction of his own bedroom to wait for her to discover the flowers on his own.
Temperance unwound her scarf and shrugged off her coat, hanging both of them up in the coat closet. She hauled her book bag, heavy with the books she'd just borrowed, up the stairs. She tried to be very discreet as she made her way to her room, not wanting Booth to catch sight of the heavy bag so obviously filled with books - she knew he'd just make fun of her and remind her of the 'prediction' he'd made earlier.
When she entered her room, however, she stopped short, blinking at the sight of the gorgeous white flowers in her purple vase by her bed. She frowned confusedly at them, stepping closer to the bouquet and taking note of the bowl of water next to the vase, with two of the large, beautiful white gardenias floating in the water.
"Do you like them?"
Temperance, absolutely startled, gave a little surprised yelp and dropped her book bag right on her foot. She turned around to face Booth, his impish, boyish little grin enough to make her forget about her throbbing toes.
"Booth…?" she blinked several times at him, shaking her head as though to clear it.
"I wanted to get you flowers."
And though she blushed at this, her heart racing wildly because there had never been a boy before him to had ever wanted to get her flowers, she tilted her head to the side and asked quite bluntly, "Why?"
Booth leaned away from the doorframe and stepped into her room, encircling her waist with his arms. "Because I wanted to," he repeated with a casual shrug. "Because you deserve it. Because we're together now and me getting you flowers is acceptable and isn't considered stalker behavior."
Temperance laughed, ducking her head to stare at his chest for a long moment. Looking up, she gave him a shy smile. "Thank you," she murmured. "They're very lovely."
Booth chuckled, shaking his head. She sounded all prim and proper, even when she was looking at him with bright, sparkling eyes and her cheeks were all flushed pink…She was so adorable without even realizing it, and it gave him a very sudden, strong urge to kiss her. Not even trying to resist the urge, he cupped the back of her head, fingers tangling with her soft hair, he brought their lips together, biting back a grin as he swallowed her little gasp.
"So why gardenias?" Temperance asked when they finally broke apart, her blush not yet gone.
Booth shrugged, that same boyish smile playing on his lips once more. "I wasn't sure what to get you," he admitted, raking a hand through his hair. "I didn't know what flowers you liked most. The lady at the store told me that gardenias were appropriate for us."
Temperance raised an eyebrow. She knew the meaning of gardenias, simply because her mother had been an enthusiastic gardener with a very impressive green thumb. She'd spent a lot of her time growing up at her mother's side, so it was no surprise that she'd known the meaning of flowers by age eight, and how to plant and care for them at an even younger age.
"They are very appropriate for us," she agreed. "But how did she know?"
Booth sheepishly told her what had occurred down at Mia's Floral Shop, hoping she wouldn't be too angry. Fortunately for him, she only appeared to be amused.
Temperance shook her head. "Well, it's very sweet of you, Booth," she assured him, leaning up on her tip toes to brush her lips against his. "Thank you."
"I actually have an ulterior motive," he admitted.
Before he could say anything else, Temperance had sharply stated, "I'm not going to do your Trig homework for you, Booth! No matter how many times you ask or how sweet you can be!"
Booth rolled his eyes. "It's not about the homework, Bones!" he sounded exasperated, though he knew he had no right to be - he'd pestered her to 'help' him with Trig for ages and ages now.
At his words, she froze, appearing slightly mollified. "Oh," she muttered. "Then…?" she trailed off, eyeing him a little suspiciously.
Booth shook his head, unable to hold off the little amused smile on his lips. "I wanted to ask you out," he informed her.
"Ask me out?" she spoke the words as though they were alien to her, or in a foreign language she didn't understand, a broken space between each word.
He nodded. "On a date," he clarified unnecessarily. When she merely continued to stare at him, he rushed to explain, "It's just…We might not have the most conventional relationships ever, but I still want to date you, Bones. I mean, we're a couple now. We're allowed to go on dates, right? I mean, not 'allowed', allowed, but still…I think we both deserve at least a semblance of normalcy and at least, if we're on a date, we could go somewhere, and we don't have to pretend we're not together and-"
Temperance, a growing smile on her lips that Booth had been too nervously rambling to notice, stepped even closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. At the physical contact, Booth started and his words died in his throat as he saw the humor in her eyes, the crooked smile she wore.
"I'd love to go out on a date with you, Booth," she informed him softly.
A relieved smile broke out on his lips - he knew he probably shouldn't be, since it was of the norm for couples to go on dates together, but Temperance was unpredictable at best, and he couldn't stop the sheer relief to spread through his body.
"Yeah?"
She chuckled warmly, loving the joy written all over his face, and loving the fact that it was her that brought him that joy even more. "Yes," she confirmed, just as his lips swooped down on hers in a sweet kiss.
The meaning of gardenias: Secret love, sweet love, joy, good luck, 'you're lovely'.
Tell me what you think.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. I love this story to pieces and it's definitely getting written but I feel like I should hurry and finish 'Heartbreak City' before Hannah leaves the show in RL. I'll be hurrying to do that, since I've heard rumors that she'll be gone by the 7th episode (please tell me when that happens. Thank you). Beginning of Forever seems to be my outlet whenever I just can't write for my other stories anymore, however, so don't worry. I'll update, I won't abandon it. I just feel like Heartbreak City should take more precedence right now…
Juliet.