A/N: No, you're not hallucinating! "The Date" has finally been updated! I just got through one bad writer's block and I'm proud to be posting this chapter today. I hope you enjoy it and please don't forget to review on your way out! Thanks!
Disclaimer: They still don't belong to me, but Alexis, James and Hannah sure do:-) Read further to know what I'm talking about.
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There was a nice contrast between the cool air of the movie theatre and the stuffy one from outside which made Temperance shiver the second she stepped through the doors of the building. Booth followed closely behind her. She let him step in front since he seemed to know the place better than her. He led her to the main counter and looked up at a screen hanging over it.
"Which movie would you like to see?" he asked her.
His eyes immediately fell on Death du Jour but he remained quiet. He knew that his partner would love this movie but he was willing to let her choose the movie, just like he had with the restaurant. Again, she gave him the choice of the movie.
"I don't recognise any other these names, Booth. You know them better than me. You choose."
Booth sighed. Temperance desperately needed to get out of the lab more often. Of course he had known that before but the fact that he knew all of these titles and had seen most of their previews on television made him feel awkward for her. She was missing so much on life, he thought.
"Death du Jour looks really good! I saw the previews for it last week and I'm pretty sure you'll like it. We can go see that one."
Temperance nodded and Booth immediately stepped up to the counter. There was nobody else in line which surprised him. Temperance stepped up beside him.
He insisted on paying and, this time, Temperance didn't fight it. She accepted immediately. She wasn't sure whether it was the sun or the fact that she had never done so much stuff in the same day but she felt to tired to argue. She just wanted one thing: to be sitting down in a comfy chair and watch a movie in the comfort of the dark. She was tired of the sun. She hadn't seen herself yet but she could definitely feel the burns on her back, her chest and her face. She must have been looking like a lobster.
The movie was scheduled to start at 8:30 and when Temperance looked down at Booth's watch, she saw that it was only 8:00. They still had thirty minutes of spare time before the movie would start. She immediately proposed to her partner that they could sit immediately in the room but Booth refused. He didn't feel like staring at a screen displaying "games" to pass the time. A couple more minutes in the lobby wouldn't hurt.
Temperance followed him like a puppy once again. They hadn't made more than ten steps when a voice behind them shouted something. Temperance was the first to turn around and to see a woman with long blond hair walking in their direction. Temperance had a bad feeling about this woman. It had to be because of the blond hair.
"Seeley!" The woman cried once again.
Booth turned around at the sound of the oh-so familiar voice. Hannah's voice.
"Hannah! Hi!" Booth replied, walking closer to the woman, a fake smile plastered on his face.
"Oh my God Seeley, it's been so long! How are you?"
Booth thought she was being a little over dramatic.
"I'm okay."
He left it at that.
The faint sound of coughing made Booth turn to his partner. Temperance was looking at him, expectantly.
"Hannah, this is Temperance Brennan, my colleague. Temperance, this is Hannah, an acquaintance of mine."
Hannah raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
An acquaintance? She thought.
"Hi." Temperance replied, obviously uncomfortable.
Her only wish was for this woman to leave them alone. But deep down, she knew that Hannah wasn't planning on leaving them alone.
"What's new with you, Babe? I haven't seen you in years."
Babe? Temperance thought. Seriously, these two were more than just acquaintances.
"Do you still work for the FBI?"
"Yeah." Booth replied."I'm now the liaison between the Bureau and the Jeffersonian Institute."
Hannah nodded and it was obvious she had no idea what Booth was talking about. Temperance forced herself not to laugh at the woman's ignorance.
"Which movie are you going to see?" Hannah asked, changing the subject.
Temperance prayed for Booth keeping the name of the movie secret but of course, the man didn't keep his mouth shut. He immediately replied to Hannah's question, the woman then shrieking in delight.
"I'm going to see the same one! I saw the previews for it two nights ago and I've been wanting to see that movie ever since. Maybe we could sit together."
Booth shook his head.
"Actually, Tempe and I would like to be alone."
Tempe? Temperance thought. He never called her that. Coming from him, her own name sounded like music to her ears.
"You two are together?"
Another jacking of eyebrows, this time, in surprise.
"No. I mean, yes, we are." Booth stuttered, not quite sure what to answer.
Hannah's question had two meanings and Booth wasn't sure which one to answer truthfully.
"We're on a date." Temperance blurted out.
Booth turned quickly to his partner and Temperance felt herself blush. Hannah simply shrugged.
"Well, I guess I'll see you after the movie."
On that, she moved on her tip-toe and quickly kissed Booth on the cheek. The kiss had barely lasted more than two seconds but to Booth, Hannah's lips had lingered a little too long on him. Temperance had looked away, disgusted.
When Hannah was out of sight, Booth turned back once again to Temperance who was still trying her best to look away from him.
"You can stop staring at the entrance, Bones. She's gone."
Temperance turned her gaze to her partner, obviously hurt by what she had just witnessed.
"Who was she?" she asked, trying to remain cool.
This time, it was Booth's turn to look away, embarrassed. He didn't want to tell her. Anyway it didn't matter whether she knew who Hannah was or not since he hadn't been with her in years and his feelings or whatever it had been he had felt for the blond had disappeared long ago.
He looked down at his hands and his fingernails suddenly became very fascinating.
"She's an old friend." He replied, still examining the tip of his fingers.
"Just an old friend? I don't recall ever calling you babe and you're my friend."
Her tone made it perfectly obvious that she wasn't buying his explanation and Booth couldn't blame her. Never would he be able to lie to her, she's see right through him.
"She's my ex-girlfriend."
Temperance nodded. She had known it from the start. Then again, it had been fairly obvious.
"How long ago did you two broke up?"
"What does it matter?"
"She seemed pretty hooked up on you."
Booth sighed.
"I met Hannah while I was still with Rebecca. We became friends instantly and when Rebecca left me, Hannah was there for me. We were lovers only for like a year before we officially got together. We didn't last long. After two years, she decided that she had had enough of me and she left me for another man. I met Tessa not long after that."
Temperance felt the nauseous feeling she felt whenever Booth talked about his previous relationships creeping up her throat once again and she immediately regretted being nosey. Booth must have sensed it for he immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She surprisingly let him.
"But all of that doesn't matter since I've met you."
He sweetly kissed her on the forehead, making Temperance shiver slightly. He smiled down at her.
"Come on." He said softly. "The movie is about to start."
Hand-in-hand, Booth led her to room number 8. Not far away, on the second floor of the movie theatre, Hannah jealously watched them walk away.
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Booth watched Temperance's expression when she learned that Alexis Lively, the movie's main character, was a forensic anthropologist, just like her. He watched as Temperance sat at the edge of her seat practically the entire movie, trying to figure out before Alexis what was going on. He saw her blush when Alexis and her "partner", James, made out Alexis' couch. He chuckled quietly as the red turned a deeper shade when James ran his hand under Alexis' shirt. If she only knew that Booth had wanted to do the same thing to her, he was sure she would have blushed even deeper.
When the movie finally ended, almost two hours later, Temperance turned to her partner, her cheeks rosy from the sun and the excitement caused by the movie.
"Booth, that was the best movie ever!"
"It was actually a novel." Booth replied, matter-of-factly, delighted that he was teaching her something. "Death du Jour, by Kathy Reichs. One of her best novels."
"You read her novels?"
It was Booth's turn to blush.
"Yeah." He replied, looking away.
Temperance smiled as she watched Booth being embarrassed for the second time that day. She found it too cute.
"Did you figure out the ending before her?" Booth asked, as they walked out of the room, hand-in-hand.
"No but I could have if Hannah hadn't kept disturbing me."
"So you saw her?"
"It was hard not to. She kept staring. It was annoying."
Booth nodded, knowingly. He had been annoyed to.
At the restroom, Booth stopped in his tracks and told Temperance to wait up for him. She said that she'd wait in the car. Booth nodded.
He was washing his hands when he heard someone enter the room. He looked up in the mirror to see Hannah standing behind him. He turned quickly around.
"Hannah? What are you doing here? This is the men's restroom."
"Yeah so? It never stopped us before."
Booth blushed at her reference. He still couldn't believe they had had sex in a public bathroom. It had seemed like a good idea back then but today, Booth couldn't help but think about the unsanitary conditions of the place. He shivered, disgusted.
"How did you like the movie?" she asked, taking a step towards him.
Booth backed against the sink.
"I thought it was okay. I personally preferred the book but I think Temperance loved the movie."
"I didn't ask about her, I asked about you."
Booth sighed.
"You dumped me." He blurted out.
She looked at him in surprise.
"So? I found someone better at the time."
The words stung but he pushed the feeling away. He had Temperance now. She was so much better than any other women he had dated. He couldn't let himself get hurt by Hannah. She wasn't worth it.
"So what now that you're alone, you go back to your ex's?"
Hannah shook her head.
"Not really. I didn't plan to run into to you today."
She took a few more steps towards him and was soon at his height. Climbing once again on the tip of her toes, she stopped mere inches from his lips.
"You're still as hot as when we were going out."
She quickly pressed her lips on his and continued kissing him even though she felt no action on his part.
Booth remained motionless for a few seconds before gathering enough force to push his ex-girlfriend away.
"You have got to stop doing that! You dumped me, remember? And I moved on. I met other women, I dated some of them and now I actually think that I found one that I really like and can really see myself with."
"Temperance?"
She spoke her name like it was a disease.
"Yes. Temperance. I like her now. Not you, not anybody else. Only her."
Hannah nodded.
"Well suit yourself! But let me tell you this. You can do so much better than her. She's not even pretty."
She watched Booth's face twist in anger. Satisfied, she walked out of the bathroom before he threw himself at her. She didn't to fight with him. She just wanted trouble for the fun of it.
Something caught her attention as she walked out of the restroom.
"He's all yours." She told a stunned Temperance, who had heard everything.
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Hope you enjoyed this! See you in the next chapter! The date is coming to an end...