Okay, this chapter's a bit short, but I will try to make them longer after this.

IMPORTANT: If you haven't yet read the NEW chapter 35, you should do that before reading this. Otherwise... I think you'll probably be a bit confused.

Temperance walked through her front door and shut it firmly behind her, locking it and doing up the deadbolt and the chain. Only then did she head across the kitchen and put her bag down on the table. She hung her jacket carefully on the hook and then sighed and looked around at the empty space she was surrounded by. Alone once more. Alone with her thoughts.

She quickly got to work making herself some supper. She needed to stay occupied. Work had been a good distraction, and after the incident in her office she'd been able to stay relatively calm all day.

She'd noticed Booth's rather obvious shadowing of her for the whole duration. He didn't need to be there at the lab, she knew, but yet he followed her everywhere she went. Mostly he kept a distance, as though he thought maybe he wasn't being totally obvious.

But that was fine with her. It gave her a sense of comfort... having him watching over her constantly. A few years ago she would have yelled at him for it, told him she could take care of herself and she thought he was condescending, overprotective, and annoying, but now she couldn't say any of those things. Because she didn't think any of them were true anymore. And she really appreciated what he was trying to do.

Even if she did think what he was doing wasn't a necessity. She was fine.

Again with the fine...

She sighed and made herself focus solely on the carrot she was peeling. It didn't do much good though. She cut herself several times while she was chopping it up, and the sight of her own blood made her annoyingly nauseous and brought back painful reminders of the warm liquid dripping down her face. She'd never been squeamish about those things before. She was just going to have to get used to it again. That was how it was.

She gave up on the carrots and irritably shoved them into the trash bin, dropping down with a huff onto her couch. She pulled the blanket up around herself again, having not put it away this morning before leaving. She'd had a feeling, which was most likely going to turn out to be quite accurate, that she was going to be sleeping in the living room again tonight.

She wasn't even sure how much time had passed when she heard a knock at her door. She looked up in surprise and then got to her feet and stretched. Okay, so she'd probably been sitting there for an hour or so, she realized.

She looked through the peep hole cautiously before touching any of the locks, and then she sighed and undid them, pulling open the door to let her guest in.

"Hey, sweetie," Ange greeted her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not really sure if she wanted company of if she wanted to be alone. Her emotions weren't really making logical sense at the moment.

Ange gave her a sad look before responding, "I thought maybe you'd like a friend." She scanned Temperance over quickly, not missing the fact that she had fresh cuts on her hands.

"I... tried to cook..." she muttered, self-consciously crossing her arms and tucking her hands out of sight.

"I've got it covered, sweetie; let me make us both something. What was it you were going to have?"

"I don't really know," she sighed, "I was just starting with carrots... and..." she shrugged, her eyes focused carefully on the floor.

Ange thought for a moment. "Okay, how about stir-fry?" she asked.

Temperance nodded, although she would probably have agreed to just about anything Angela suggested.

The blanket on the couch got a glance from Ange as they passed it, and Temperance knew that she understood what it meant. Another sad look was sent her way before Ange turned to business and got her to help unload food from cabinets.

It was a good distraction, and she couldn't help but feel grateful to her friend for it. She knew that Ange understood exactly what she was doing and what effect it was having.

"Like high school again, huh?" her friend asked softly as they stood there, in the kitchen, with food sizzling in the background.

She nodded, and surprised herself by smiling slightly.

It felt, if she were to close her eyes, like nothing had changed. But yet... everything had.

For one, Booth loved her.

And Jake was dead, too; he was gone for good now.

One thing hadn't changed yet, though. There was still Ange, right here like she'd always been. And cooking stir-fry. Next she'd be forcing her to go to the mall with her, she thought with another smile and a very soft, barely audible laugh. Ange glanced at her, and smiled back at her warmly.

She didn't ask what was funny. She just stood there next to her, and the two of them silently watched the food cook. Just two friends... with a stronger bond than any one else's.

Ange loaded the food onto plates when it was done and they sat at the table to eat. For a while there was just the sound of their utensils scraping the dishes, but eventually Ange set down her fork.

"I'd really like it if you came to stay at my place," she offered once more. "Please?"

She almost said no again, but this time she hesitated, and then sighed and murmured, "Okay. And... thanks, Ange."

Her friend smiled back at her. "Your welcome, Bren. We'll get your things together after we're done here, okay?"

She just nodded and went back to eating one vegetable after the other.

It was silent in her apartment, but for the first time since last weeks' events, the silence wasn't immediately inviting to her thoughts. For once... she was able to just focus without trying on the current situation. On her and Ange. Here and now, just eating supper and relaxing.

And for a few blissful moments, some of the fear and the pain melted away.