Thank you to everyone who has reviewed.


As Booth slowly woke up, his sleepy mind wondered why his back was leaning against a cushioned wall. He was pretty sure his bed didn't normally have one. His eyes suddenly snapped open and he sat bolt upright. This was not his bed. In fact, looking around the dimly lit room, it wasn't even his house. Then he remembered, dinner with Temperance and back to her house for a drink, well a cake actually, but that wasn't the point. The point was that he'd sat down for a couple of minutes and fallen asleep. He screwed his eyes shut and smacked his forehand with his hand, not sure if he was trying to knock some sense into himself or in the hope that he'd wake up to find this was just a really embarrassing nightmare. He opened his eyes a crack - same room, he wasn't going to wake up, this was reality. He had gone home with the woman of his dreams, after finally getting as far as putting his arm around her, and fallen asleep. Unbelievable!

He flopped backwards, jarring his head on the armrest. He dreaded to think what Temperance thought of him. Then he noticed that he was covered with a couple of blankets; evidently Bones wasn't so pissed that she was willing to let her unexpected overnight guest freeze on the couch. He wondered why she hadn't woken him up. He looked at his watch, the glowing hands read 7:30. He gave a half smile in the dark, that qualified as his best night's sleep in a fortnight. He tensed suddenly as he heard the floorboards upstairs creak and then the whoosh of the shower. He wasn't sure what to do, should he get up? He didn't want to wander into the kitchen or anywhere else as he hadn't been shown around before he'd fallen asleep. He decided that discretion was the better part of valour and he'd wait for Temperance to come downstairs. His closed his eyes and tried out a range of explanations and apologies for his soporific performance the previous evening.

Upstairs in the shower, Temperance was humming to herself as the soapy bubbles from her shampoo cascaded down her body and swirled down the plug hole. She wondered if Booth had slept okay. She hadn't. She had sat in the living room watching Booth sleeping peacefully for almost an hour. She'd been trying to sort out what she felt for him, and had approached the issue with a characteristically thorough and logical approach. She had listed Booth's good points and bad points, how they related to hers, she'd thought about how she felt when she spoke to him and saw him, and how she felt when he wasn't there. Unfortunately the answer she'd arrived at after all this careful analysis had scared the hell out of her. Once she had actually thought about it, she had realised how strong her feelings were. She had abruptly ended her contemplation of the sleeping Booth when her internal voice - sounding disturbingly like Angela - had said, 'that's what I've been telling you all along sweetie, you're crazy about Booth.' She had bolted from the room and gone to bed, unfortunately sleep had proved elusive. Fractured images of Booth: smiling at her over dinner, putting his arm around her in the snow, kept interrupting her attempts to drop off to sleep.

She turned off the spray of water and wrapped herself in a towel. She dried off in her bedroom and after spraying deodorant and slathering on moisturiser all over, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a pretty silk top. She sat on the edge of her bed, she didn't want to go downstairs, she'd have to face him. Intuition was his strong point, he was bound to be able to tell what she was thinking. That would be so embarrassing! It didn't occur to her that Booth might feel the same way. She took a deep breath and forced herself to her feet, it was her house and she couldn't hide in her room all day. She could act casual, in fact she didn't need to act at all - nothing had changed.

Temperance crept down the stairs trying not to make any noise. She walked into the kitchen and turned on the light. Then she filled the kettle, then flicked the switch at the wall. She drummed her fingers on the worktop for a moment and then started to open cupboards, taking out the ingredients for pancakes. She lifted a pan down off a hook and started to mix up the batter.

Booth had heard her come downstairs and decided that he really ought to get up and go talk to her. He threw off the blankets and then folded them neatly in a pile. He ran his hands over his face and rubbed his eyes. I probably look like hell he thought, hair standing on end as it always did in the morning, stubble and he didn't want to think about how creased his shirt and suit trousers were going to be. He swung his arms in a couple of lazy circles to try to work the knots out and then started to walk decisively towards the source of a light and faint sounds of cooking.

He stood in the doorway of the kitchen for a moment, watching. Temperance had her back to him and seemed to be preparing breakfast. He smiled slightly as he saw that all the ingredients for making pancakes were lined up in a neat row, in the exact order they would be needed. He noticed that her hair was still damp from the shower and was tied up in a loose knot to keep the damp strands off her back.

He decided that there wasn't any point in putting off the inevitable and he cleared his throat, "Good morning."

Temperance spun round with a jump. She felt like the bottom had fallen out of her stomach as she stared at Booth. His appearance was usually always neat: smart suits, clean-shaven and not a hair out of place. Now he was standing in her kitchen, leaning sleepily on the doorframe, with his hair tufted up in all directions, a very noticeable shadow of stubble and his white dress shirt crinkled with one half still tucked in and the other sticking out. Her grip on the whisk tightened, apparently she liked the scruffy look.

Booth smiled tentatively, "Err.. you threatening me with that?" He nodded at the whisk.

Temperance blinked and put the whisk down on the surface behind her, she was about to speak when Booth interrupted looking very sheepish, "I'm really sorry I fell asleep like that. I guess I was a lot more tired than I thought," He paused for a moment then levered himself away from the doorframe and took a couple of steps towards her, "You should have just woken me up though."

Temperance shook her head, "You needed the sleep, I couldn't bring myself to wake you up. Feeling better this morning?" She looked critically at his face, noting that the dark circles under his eyes had receded, "You look a bit better."

Booth grinned, "Really? I thought I must look like I'd been dragged through a hedge backwards." He ineffectually tried to smooth his hair down.

Temperance felt a smile tugging at her mouth too, "Well, you do look a bit dishevelled, but more importantly you don't look so exhausted." She paused for a moment, "Do you want to take a shower?"

Booth nodded, "That'd be great. I'm not sure that I actually qualify as human in the mornings until I've had one."

Temperance felt herself blush slightly, she had never thought that she'd be learning things like this about her partner. Then she shook herself, "Okay, I'll show where everything is. Follow me."

She lead the way up the stairs. Booth knew that he shouldn't be staring at her rear view, so looked at the pictures lining the wall up the stairs. There were two small canvases on the way up and then a large one on the wall at the top of the stairs. They were all gorgeous, dreamy landscapes, quite abstract but still with discernable detail and all clearly by the same artist. He stopped at the top of the stairs to admire the large painting.

Temperance turned when she realised that he wasn't following and then smiled when she saw what he was looking at, "It's wonderful isn't it? It's such a peaceful scene. I sit and stare at it sometimes, if it's been a tough day at work." Booth turned to her as she spoke and she looked away, a little embarrassed to have confessed that some days her work affected her.

He nodded in understanding, then said "Did Angela paint it?"

Temperance turned back to him with a beaming smile, "Yes! How could you tell?"

He shrugged, "I've seen quite a lot of her work. This is a different style, but it's still... I don't know... very Angela."

"Well, she'll be really pleased to hear that you recognised her work, and liked it." Temperance said, her smile fading as she tried to imagine the conversation that explained how Booth came to be looking at the painting at the top of her stairs at 7:45 in the morning on his way to the shower.

Moving on swiftly she thought to herself. "The shower's just through here." she said pushing the door open, Booth stepped across and brushed past her to walk into the bathroom. Even that tiny touch sent little sparks surging up her arm, she stood back, "I'll get you a towel."

She returned in a few moments with a big white towel, which she handed over to him. Then she explained which dials to turn on the shower and dug out some shampoo, soap and even a spare tooth brush for him, "Okay?"

Booth nodded.

Temperance thought for a moment, "I'll see if I can find some clothes that'll fit you, in case you want to change."

Booth raised an eyebrow, "Err... I don't think anything of yours is likely to fit."

"These will," She replied, "If I can find them."

She left the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She walked back to her bedroom and started to rummage through her drawers for something that would fit Booth. In the distance she heard the shower turn on. She rapidly found an oversized t-shirt that would be okay and after a bit more searching found a pair of jogging pants, which she thought should be long enough for him. She wondered if he'd think they belonged to an old boyfriend. They didn't, but had been left behind by an old college friend who had stayed for a week when at a conference in Washington two years ago. They hadn't had chance to meet up in person since then, so the clothes he'd left behind were still sat in her closet.

Temperance touched the top of her head and realised that her hair was nearly dry. She untied it and then combed out the waves for a couple of minutes. The shower had turned off, so she picked up the pile of clothes and walked towards the bathroom door.

She knocked quietly and then said, "Booth, I've found some stuff that should fit, if you want to borrow them. I'll leave them outside the door." She put the clothes on the floor and was about to walk away when the door opened. She took a sharp intake of breath and then swallowed. Booth was standing in front of her wearing the towel around his waist and nothing else. His arms were folded across his chest. Droplets of water were tracing little pathways down his body. Oh yes, he definitely does lots of sits ups - look at the condition of those rectus abdominus muscles. The biceps are pretty good too. Temperance halted her inventory of Booth's muscle groups with reluctance when she realised that he was looking at her expectantly. She smiled nervously.

Booth frowned, "Sorry I couldn't hear what you were saying." Was she checking me out? He thought incredulously.

"Oh - just that there are some clothes you can borrow there" she pointed to the pile, there was no way she was picking them up to hand them over, she would be dangerously close to his semi-naked body, "I'll go make some pancakes." And with that, she scuttled off down the stairs.

Booth stared for a moment, then picked up the pile of clothes with a shrug. After about five minutes, he was dry, dressed, had clean teeth and his hair was looking tidy. He still had stubble, but other than that he felt a lot better. He took the stairs two at a time breathing in the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

Temperance smiled as he entered the kitchen, "Right on time." She said, handing him a plate of blueberry pancakes and a mug of coffee. They sat at the breakfast bar eating silently. Booth couldn't believe how natural it felt to be sat in her kitchen, first thing in the morning, sharing breakfast. He paused, his pancake loaded fork hanging in mid air, this was great, and yet it wasn't. So much had been left unspoken, mainly because he'd fallen asleep, but it meant that he didn't know if this was breakfast with a caring friend, looking out for him when he was down; or if it was the start of a closer relationship. He swallowed the forkful - how the hell was he supposed to work it out? He couldn't just come out and ask her, could he?

He started slightly when he felt his phone vibrate. He put down his fork, pulled out the phone and smiled in apology, "Booth here."

Temperance watched as he listened to the voice on the other end of the phone, then said "No sir." There was another pause, "Yes." He looked at his watch, "In about an hour?" He waited a bit longer, "Okay - I'll be there." He snapped the phone shut and sighed.

"I've got to go into work."

Temperance's face fell, "What's going on. Is it a new case?"

Booth shook his head, "Not really. It's not one of my cases, but they've had to bring forward some big operation. They're drafting in everyone who's on call this weekend. For back-up."

"Okay, I assume you can finish breakfast?" she asked.

He nodded, "Then I need to go home and get changed and head on in to work. I'd better call a cab." He reached for his phone, but saw that Temperance was shaking her head.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'll drive you over to your place." She could see he was about to protest and glared, "We are not debating it."

Booth decided to admit defeat gracefully and nodded in agreement.

They hurriedly finished their food and coffee, then Temperance asked, "Do you want to go now?"

Booth looked at his watch and tilted his head from side to side a couple of times, "Yeah, I guess." He said in resignation.

Temperance nodded and moved around the kitchen, checking the plugs were switched off; Booth smiled slightly at her routine before starting to gather up his things.

They put on their coats and then Temperance unbolted the front door and opened it. It was white outside, although the dusting of snow was only very light. The wind had died away, so it seemed milder than the previous evening.

Booth turned to her, gesturing at her sporty car, "You okay to drive that car in this?"

Temperance didn't bother to reply, she just stared at him stonily.

Booth put his hands up in self-defence, "Fine. Whatever. Just checking."

They got into the car and Temperance drove carefully through the deserted streets. The main roads had been thoroughly salted so there was nothing but glistening black tarmac, the quieter streets in Booth's neighbourhood were icier. Finally they pulled up outside Booth's house, the black SUV in the driveway now had a cap of white snow.

"Here we are then." Temperance said turning to him.

Booth looked at her. Damn this was awkward. All the rules of their relationship had been shifted, but he wasn't sure what the new ones were. Should he say thank you? Maybe he should kiss her? But what if she'd driven him over here to get rid of him as quickly as possible?

Temperance watched Booth's expression carefully. He was uncharacteristically uncertain, but she had no idea what was going on in his head. Suddenly she could see that he'd come to a decision as his face cleared. He rotated his body so he was looking her full in the face and then he reached across and took her hands. All rational thought ceased - as 'he's going to kiss me' - repeated over and over in her head.

"Thank you. Thanks for dinner, for letting me sleep over - I am really sorry about that - thanks for breakfast and the loan of these clothes. And I'm really, really sorry I have to rush off like this. Maybe we can talk soon?" He nodded encouragingly; Temperance looked blank and then stared at their entwined hands, "I'd like to talk... you know...about stuff..." He tried again, but Temperance continued to look puzzled. Booth gave up, there wasn't time to explain what he was trying to say. Perhaps the blank look was a hint to back off? He squeezed her hands and said, "I'll speak to you later. Good luck with the book today" With that, he let go, opened the car door and walked across to the entrance to his house.

He turned around to see Temperance was still gazing at him intently. He smiled and waved. He was relieved to see her smile back in response, wave and then she slowly pulled away from the curb and drove off.

TBC