(After 'The Signs in the Silence' and during 'The Hole in the Heart')
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Oooooooooooooooo
It seemed like things were finally going his way. Booth had been casually dating Brennan for weeks. Nothing official, but they were dates none the less. They had been careful not to rush into anything, so their relationship hadn't been physical except for a few kisses and some hand holding. They didn't want to put too much pressure on their friendship which was important to them. They were the best of friends and they weren't going to do anything to jeopardize that friendship. They did have a goal and that goal was to have a physical relationship but not at the expense of who and what they were. Neither was willing to force the other to move their relationship further and that was causing them confusion or at least Booth was confused.
Visiting his grandfather, Booth sat in the old man's room on the couch, his hands jammed in his pockets, his gaze centered on the coffee table. Hank knew that his grandson was in an odd mood, but he wasn't sure what it was and what he could do about it. "You normally visit me at the end of the month."
"Yeah." His thoughts were in turmoil and he was having trouble concentrating on what the old man said. "Uh, yeah."
"Okay." Hank sat down on his recliner and stared at his grandson. He was reminded of the time when the man was a child living with him in Philadelphia. Sometimes, the boy had been conflicted about something, but he wasn't able to come right out and talk about it or ask for advice. Because of the severe abuse he had suffered from the hands of his father, his grandson had trust issues and it had taken him months to get the child to open up to him and to come to him when he had a problem. As an adult, Booth was still someone that kept things bottled up inside, not willing to share what was going on unless cornered. "Is Parker alright? . . . Is Parker alright, Seeley?"
His attention focused on Hank's words now, Booth removed his hands from his pockets and placed them on his thighs. "Sure, he's okay . . . He's likes living in London. He likes his school . . . I talk to him every Friday night and whenever he needs to talk to me . . . He's fine."
"So, Parker is fine . . . Are you okay?" Since Parker wasn't the issue, Hank assumed the problem might be with his grandson. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
"What? No, Pops, I'm fine." Sighing, Booth decided that playing twenty questions with his grandfather wasn't very satisfying and all it was doing was aggravating both of them. "Look . . . um . . . How do you tell someone you love them when that someone doesn't believe in love and thinks love is just a bunch of chemicals controlling your brain?"
So that's it. Enlightened, Hank leaned back against his chair and thought about how he should answer that particular question. "That is a dilemma isn't it?" Of course, Booth was worried about his partner, Temperance. Only she could tie him into knots like this.
"Pops, I love Bones. I've loved her for a long time . . . I know that you probably don't believe me, since I got involved with Hannah, but . . . "
Hank held up his hand. "I believe you." He had known that Hannah had been some kind of crisis relationship and that it wouldn't last. He had met her one time and he hadn't seen a spark between them. He had seen that same lack of spark when his grandson had been with Rebecca and he had been proven right. Booth needed that flame that kept you interested and alive. He was a romantic and there was no doubt that had caused the boy a lot of trouble in his life.
"How do I tell Bones I love her?" Running his hand through his hair, Booth sighed again. "I'm so messed up . . . I don't want to lose her. Hannah . . . I could have lost Bones, Pops. I could have lost her forever and I don't want to do anything to drive her away . . . We agreed to take it slow and when I'm not mad at me anymore and she's not impervious anymore then we . . . maybe we can, um . . . make it personal, but how do I tell her I love her? She . . . she's complicated."
"Well, it seems to me there is only one way you can do it. You look her straight in the eyes and you say the three magic words . . . I love you." It seemed simple enough to Hank, but what did he know about the situation? Brennan was a strong independent woman, a brilliant scientist and his grandson was head over heels in love with her. "Just say I love you and let her take it from there . . . She'll either say it back or she won't but at least she'll know what you feel. Don't hold back about this, Seeley. She needs to hear it even if the scientist in her can't let her say it back . . . . Just keep in mind that she's not a robot or anything. She's a flesh and blood woman . . . Just because she can't say it doesn't mean she can't feel it."
Slowly nodding his head, Booth realized that Hank was right. It didn't matter if she couldn't say it, he could and he would find a way to do it. "Yeah, I know she loves me, she's just afraid. She was abandoned when she was a kid, her family didn't come back for her and well, it was bad."
"I know, you've told me about it." Hank had been outraged when he had found out that Brennan's parents had left her with her brother and he had given her to the state to take care of. No matter what the circumstances were, Hank knew that if his grandson had been placed in a situation where he had to raise his brother, he would have done it. "I have mixed feelings about Max. He was a bad father when Temperance was a child, but he's tried to make up for it and I guess that gives him some points in this life . . . Temperance has a lot of distrust about people's motives, I know, but she trusts you, Son. I see how she looks at you when you're not looking. It's the same look you give her when she's not looking. Both of you give each other cow eyes. A blind person could see that . . . Just . . . don't wait for her to say it first, she may never have the courage to do it, so it's all on you. You tell her you love her and she'll know. She can decide what to do about it after that. She needs facts, Seeley. She needs to know you love her. Get it?"
"Yeah, I get it." And he did. Brennan was all about facts and evidence. Well, he would give her the evidence she needed.
Ooooooooooooooooo
She was crying and she had a lot to cry about. Her intern was dead. Brodsky had tried to murder him at the Lab and instead he had killed Brennan's favorite intern and she was crying. At first, Booth had thought it was because she really liked Vincent, but after talking to her, he discovered that Brennan felt like Vincent had blamed her for his death. That was quite a burden.
While lying in a growing pool of his own blood, Vincent had said he didn't want to go and for some reason that Booth didn't understand, his partner had assumed that Vincent was talking to her, pleading with her to stay. It was a mess and Booth tried to explain that Vincent was talking to the Universe or God. From past experience, he knew that sometimes even atheists felt His presence and wanted His help in time of need. Booth had seen it in the service and he knew that when facing death, you'll find any straws you could grasp to stay. He saw no shame in asking God for help, even if you might think he wasn't real. It was human nature to fight dying until the end.
Sad for his partner, he had held her in his arms and after a while her tears had stopped. He knew she was tired and needed comfort, so he had said the words he had been trying to say for weeks. "I love you, Bones." He didn't expect her to respond, but he wanted her to know that she wasn't alone and that she could trust him to be there for her any time she needed it.
"I love you too, Booth."
She had spoken without hesitation and Booth felt his heart swell with love and hope. "You do?"
"Of course I do." Brennan sighed. Too many times in the past, she had told her partner that love wasn't real and she didn't blame him for questioning her sincerity now. She had thought about it often since she had come back from Maluku, trying to figure out if what she was feeling for her partner was love or something else and she had come to the conclusion that much to her surprise, love was actually a real emotion. Whether it was permanent or temporary was beside the point. She was in love and she wanted Booth to know it. "I have loved you for quite a while. I just didn't know how to say it and make it sound sincere."
He moved so that he could kiss her. Their lips met and they both felt that what was happening was right. The kiss was natural and not forced like the mistletoe kiss a few Christmases ago although forced might be too strong a description for that particular kiss. Brennan moved her body so they were more comfortable as they kissed, her hands exploring his chest and shoulders while he moved so she could do what she wanted to do with her hands. He knew she needed evidence that he was ready to move further in their relationship and letting her explore his body seemed the right thing to do. After a few minutes, he moved his hands and started his own explorations. She was beautiful and she was asking him to make love and that was the line that they finally crossed. "I love you, Bones. I would die for you."
"I love you, Booth and I want you to live for me."
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