One deep breath.
A second.
Instinctively, he reaches out, flattening his palm against her back, between her shoulder blades.
Hears her breathing hitch slightly.
Half expects her to pull away.
She leans into his hand before she's made the decision to do so.
Feels him trail a deliberate path down her spine in response.
Closes her eyes at the sensation.
She's never understood her readiness to melt under his touch.
His hand comes to a rest in the small of her back.
Familiar.
"When we met, you caught me totally off guard." He says quietly.
A slight furrow to her brow. But she keeps her eyes closed. Doesn't turn.
"You walked into my lecture theatre."
He smiles, despite himself.
Her ability to challenge him, never too far away.
"You were everything I didn't expect. I thought you'd be some stuffy old professor, and instead you were… you."
She finally turns, shifting around to see his face.
Knees bumping.
She lays a hand over his right patella for support.
Gives him a curious look.
He shrugs.
"You were running rings around me immediately, pushing me to do better. I'm not even sure it was a conscious effort… you were just being you. And for someone who'd never been out in the field, you were seriously ballsy. Not at all what I expected."
She rolls her eyes, and he falters a second.
"You mean I barged my way into interrogations I wasn't supposed to be in, punched suspects, mishandled evidence. Got fired."
She stares at him.
"I propositioned you, and then slapped you and called you an idiot." She says, before adding, "That's a terrible first impression."
There's an upturn to the corners of his mouth.
A levity in his gaze.
"I believe the phrase you used was, 'superstitious moron'. And then you slapped me and called me stupid." He says, raising an eyebrow.
She looks contrite.
Worries her bottom lip with her teeth for a moment.
"Does it help at all if I tell you that I was very wrong in my assessment? And that I mostly only said it because I was angry with you?" She pauses, before adding, "And that I was incredibly hung over?"
An uncontrolled bark of laughter.
"Yeah, we both were."
His smile widening.
That twinkle.
"I appreciate you admitting you were wrong about something though. Rare occurrence. I feel deeply honoured!"
Another roll of her eyes.
"Seriously though, Bones, I did deserve it. I behaved… well, I'm ashamed of what happened. If I'd known…"
"It's fine, Booth, it's forgotten."
"It's not fine, but thanks."
There's a moment of stillness.
Of acceptance.
Of understanding.
"Besides," he says, lips curving up. "You only slapped me, so you must have still liked me a little bit."
Humoured, she understands his thought process.
"Oh, you think I'd have used martial arts to flatten an FBI agent in the FBI building? Give me some approbation."
"Credit." He corrects, quickly, suspecting that she's doing this on purpose.
"Same meaning." She says innocently.
A beat.
He narrows his eyes slightly.
Considering.
"Is it weird if I tell you I find it impressive that you're a Black Belt?"
"In the context of you being highly trained in hand to hand combat, yes." She says, smiling softly. "However, I do appreciate the compliment."
"Good."
He jostles her knee with his, playfully.
Sees her smile widen.
"You know what, Bones, despite us both hurling insults, I was still glad we'd worked together. You challenged me and reminded me why the hell I'd joined the FBI in the first place. You were so unapologetically yourself. So much self-confidence and zero hesitance to inform me that you were the best in the world. You were completely unafraid to call it as you found it."
A sidelong glance, as she considers his words.
"I thought you found that annoying."
"Oh, come on, that confidence?" He says, grinning guiltily. "It was… it is incredibly sexy."
She flushes slightly.
She's pleasantly surprised by the impact his words have on her.
He's complimented her appearance before. Told her she's 'well structured' and on the rarest of occasions, beautiful. She's never heard him describe her as sexy. Describe aspects of her personality, her intelligence, as sexy.
He suddenly worries that he's overstepped.
After promising himself that he'll do this properly.
A simple momentary lapse in censoring his words.
"Sorry." He says quickly, withdrawing his hand from its resting place in her lumbar region. "I shouldn't have…"
Still blushing, she interrupts him.
"Told me you think I'm sexy?"
She arches an eyebrow.
Watches him squeeze his eyes shut, and open a single one a mere fraction to peep at her.
Like a child.
Exasperated, she shakes his knee slightly.
"Booth! This evening you've told me that you're in love with me. We've been having a conversation about addiction and mental health… about the utter devastation we see on a daily basis. I think I can handle you admitting that you find me sexually stimulating. It's not as if I didn't know that you were attracted to me. We did almost spend the night together."
Eyes opened fully, he looks sheepish.
He feels like he's getting none of this right.
Should have known that the elements he'd find the most difficult to traverse, she would take in her stride.
Balanced, always.
At her expectant look, he smiles.
Nods slowly.
"Okay, right as usual."
"I am a genius." She quips. Eyes bright and teasing.
He sees the mischief on her face. The challenge. Knows she's saying it for effect.
To tease him.
To gauge his reaction.
He reminds himself of their need to stay on topic.
"Look, attraction aside. I just found it impressive that you were so focused on the truth, ok. That you cared enough to want to go out of your way to help with finding Gemma's killer… that was pretty amazing. You were honestly such a breath of fresh air. With how everything was going, it was the giant kick up the ass I needed."
All trace of teasing gone, she frowns, processing.
"Are you…" She starts, tilting her head to one side, and squinting at him. "Are you saying that I was some sort of catalyst to you stopping gambling?"
"Well, yeah." He nods. "In a way."
Silence.
Her gaze pierces him.
"And when you told me that it was under control, that you were sorting it…?"
He's careful to meet her eyes steadily. His motivation and timing forever entwined with meeting her.
"I was…" he begins. "I thought…"
He suddenly realizes she's expecting an entirely different answer.
He grimaces.
Admits.
"Two days. It had been two days."
Thanks for the reviews you guys. Each one brightens my day & gives me a little kick up the behind to write more!
I now have many chapters mapped out and partially written, so there will be plenty more to come. I do hope that I'm balancing out the angst with them-ness sufficiently!
On the topic of Booth, and the timing of his stopping gambling… has anyone else considered the impact she must have had on him in just a few days, to set that in motion?