"So are you coming or not?" Booth asked, with a hint of impatience.
"I don't know," sophie said, putting the last folder in her bag before zipping it shut. She looked at all her co-workers gathered in front of her office, getting ready to leave. This is a waste of time. "I still have at least three hours of paperwork to finish. And you said you would help," she reminded him.
"And I will. Later. Brennan invited all of us, and I think you should go."
"She invited me because she's polite. She Doesn't really want me there."
"Since when do you read minds?" Booth laughed out. "And why wouldn't she want you there?"
"she doesn't like me very much in social settings," Brennan stated.
"That's not true. She likes you just fine, settings or not. Now, come on," he said, taking her bag from her hands. "Paperwork can wait. It can always wait."
"You know," she explained, passing in front of him. "According to clinical literature, rebelliousness, hostility and disagreeableness are thought to be major motivations for procrastination."
She felt his hand on her back. The usual illogical feeling of comfort crept inside her, along with a not so new twitching burning sensation in the pit of her stomach. Her mind ignored it, as it always did. But the inaudible breath she drew was sharp and shaky. He touched her a lot these days. Or maybe she just noticed it more.
"She's coming!" Booth announced to everyone. They all clapped and cheered. Brennan's cheeks flushed a little and she couldn't hold back a smile.
"I told you Booth would convince her," she heard Angela tell Hodgins.
The apartment looked nothing like what she had expected. It was charming, inviting and warm. She would never have guessed that Brennan lived here.
"And this is Christine's room. I know it's a mess. She's away on a school trip for the weekend, and I'm trying really hard no to clean it up. Invasion of privacy is something she takes seriously." Brennan explained
Sophie listened to Angela talking about her bedroom as a kid, and she heard laughs coming from the kitchen. Booth and Hodgins were making dinner. Brennan had dared them to, and Booth never could refuse a challenge, although spaghetti hardly qualified as a challenge. While the two women were talking about wallpaper, she discreetly went back to the hallway, towards the cooks.
"This is not one of your little experiments, buddy" she heard Booth say. "If you blow up Brennan's kitchen, she'll kill you and I'll have to clean up the mess by myself."
"Oh, I'm sure Sophie will help you," Hodgins muttered between smiles.
"You need my help?" Sophie asked, suddenly appearing in the kitchen.
Booth jumped, startled, and dropped the wooden spoon he was holding in the pot, splashing red sauce all over his white shirt.
"Aw, Sophie, come on"
Sophie bit her lips together, torn from the urge to laugh and the need to apologize. Hodgins snorted, clearly amused.
"See what I mean?" he said.
"This was a new shirt!" Booth whined.
Sophie walked up to him to assess the damage.
"A little hydrogen peroxide, and it will be like nothing happened," she said.
"You know, man, if you didn't dress up in such expensive clothing all the time, you wouldn't mind getting dirty," Hodgins said.
"I only get dirty when Sophie is around," Booth mumbled.
Hodgins burst out in laughter. "Oh, I know."
Booth shut his eyes, embarrassed. "It's not what I meant."
"Whatever." Hodgins handed Sophie a wet cloth. "I'll ask Brennan if she has any H202," he continued leaving them alone.
"Why are yo so quiet"
Startled, she spun her head up to see Booth standing right there, leaning against the wall beside her, his arms above her head.
She shrugged and shifted on her feet.
"Is dinner ready?" she asked.
she's getting good at changing the subject.
"In a minute. You ok?" he asked, concerned.
"Of course."
But Booth wasn't buying it.
"I'm just really tired," she explained. He brought his face closer to hers, squinting his eyes. She tried not to look at his lips. "You look tired, too."
"Jeez, thanks!" he said, pretending to be offended.
"You're welcome," she smiled. He grinned back, sweeping his eyes across her face. He resisted the urge to put a strand of her hair behind her ear, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Hey, you two, if you're that hungry, you should join us at the table. Where there's actual food!" Hodgins exclaimed. Sophie and Booth turn towards him at the same time, but whereas Booth abruptly pulled away and almost ran to take a seat, Sophie took her time.
"How does one know how hungry a person is?" she asked.
"He's talking about the kind of hungry that makes mama's radar go off these days," Angela tried to explain.
Sophie frowned
"I don't know what that means..." She turned to Booth.
He choked on his breath a little, looking around, wide eyed.
"Why are you looking at me? I didn't say anything!" he defended himself.
"Well, you're usually the one who explains to me their cryptic comments."
"Yeah, well, maybe later," he said, taking a big sip of wine, and winced a little.
"I bet you will," Hodgins murmured. Angela nudged him with her elbow.
Sophie seem lost, looking at the one by one.
Brennan raised her glass of red wine. "To another case closed by my wonderful team."
They all Clinked their glasses together.
"To us," Booth said, as his glass touched Sophie's. Her soft eyes met his gaze, smiling through the blue, as always, and he felt his chest tighten. "To us all," he added.
"Hear, hear!"
Sophie insisted on cleaning up the kitchen with Brennan. It gave her something to do. Everyone else was chit chatting in the living room, laughing. And she didn't have that many jokes or funny stories to tell. Putting the last plate in the cupboard, she realized that she was a little disappointed. Oh, she loved everyone of her co-workers, which she considered her friends now. But usually, after they closed a case, Booth would take her out, alone. She was comfortable when she was she was alone with him. She didn't feel the need to come up with funny stories. As a matter of fact, she'd just have to give him a look and he would laugh.
"Thank you for helping me," Brennan said. She handed her another glass of wine.
"No problem," Sophie said.
They entered the living room. Angela, Sweets, and Hodgins were sitting on the same sofa, while Booth was alone on the other one. When her saw them arrive, he smiled and patted the spot next to him. Sophie looked at Brennan, wondering if she should let her sit next to Booth and grab a chair from the kitchen instead. It was her apartment, after all. But Brennan grabbed a cushion and sat on the floor. Weirdly satisfied, Sophie put her glass on the coffee table and sat next to Booth, who rested his arm behind her, on the edge of the couch.
"Brennan, you cant stay on the floor!" Booth said.
Instantly, the FBI agent turned to him. Guilt washed over her.
"You're right, I should go sit on the floor," she said, getting ready to get up.
But Booth put his hand on her shoulder so she'd stay put.
"No one sits on the floor. Come on, scoot over. Brennan sit over here."
it's not that she absolutely wanted to be next to Booth, or that she didn't want Brennan to be next to him, but… she held back a sigh and scooted over to the other side of the couch, creating a place for Brennan between them.
Brennan almost laughed. As if I would sit between those two. They will probably spend the evening trying to talk to each other…
where is she going? Booth wondered. Without thinking, he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her close. She didn't resist, but surprised, she gasped a little. And breathed him in. he probably wanted Brennan to have better access to the coffee table next to the couch. That's why he had pulled her so close to him. Their thighs were glued together. She had never been more aware of her right thigh in her entire life. Being that comfortable made her uncomfortable.
"Remember that drinking game, 'Never Have I Ever?" Hodgins said.
"Yeah!" Angela smiled.
Booth and Brennan laughed.
"Oh, my God, yes. We used to play every weekend in college," Brennan said.
"What is it?" Sophie asked?
"You have to say something starting with 'Never Have I Ever...' and those who have drink," Booth explained.
"I'm confused."
Sweets tried to explain better.
"For example, you say 'Never Have I Ever had a dog'..."
Hodgins interrupted him. "Well, that's usually not in that line of questioning."
"Yeah, its usually slightly more… personal," Angela continued.
"Ok, for example, 'Never have I kissed a dog', and those who have kissed a dog have to take a sip of their drink."
"Who would kiss a dog?" Sophie asked.
"The point is to get others to reveal their secrets." Angela concluded. "We should try. You'll understand once we start."
"Yeah, I'm not sure I wanna play," Booth winced.
"Too many secrets, agent Booth?" Sweets prodded him.
Sophie was curious now. "You afraid, Booth?"
"Fine!" Booth took his beer. "I'll star. Never have I ever… Uhm… Yeah. No. somebody else should start. I have no idea what to say."
"I'll do it." Sophie said. "Never have I ever dated my FBI partner?"
They all took a drink of their wine or beer all did except Brennan.
"My turn," Angela said. "I'll go with a classic, so that everyone can drink. Never have I ever been drunk."
As expected, everyone took a sip. Except Sweets. Hodgins looked at the psychologist, who was staring at his feet.
"Didn't you say when the statement doesn't apply to you, you have to drink?" Sophie verified.
"Yes..."
They all looked at each other wide eyed. Booth tried to wrap his brain around the confession.
"You have never, ever been drunk in you whole entire.. yet so short existence?"
Sweets sat up straighter, gathering some fake pride. "Nope."
"Wow," Angela let out. "Well, let's get to it, then."
Sweets turned to her. "What?"
"Lets get you drunk," Hodgins continued. He raised his glass to his lips. "Never have I ever had a crush on Angela," he said slowly, making sure Sweets understood he was talking to him. He waited for the shrink to raise his glass too, and they both took a sip. Just before putting his glass down, Sweets whispered in a threatening tone, "You just wait..."
Sophie saw a change on Sweets face. She wasn't too sure of the significance, but id she had to guess, she would have said the young doctor had somewhat of a thirst for vengeance and that he was about to get even.
"Never have I ever..." he started, painfully slowly, enjoying every shadow of emotion passing on Hodgins' features, "… had a tattoo."
Oh, well she had been wrong before. Angela took a sip, even though a non-permanet inking hardly qualified as a tattoo. Sophie went to turn to Booth, knowing he was going to drink too, when she realized Sweets was grinning from ear to ear. He had probably lied saying he had never been drunk. That young man was clearly not well.