Disclaimer: Nothing's mine. Nothing is EVER mine.
Authors Note: Thanks for the reviews guys! I got a lot of critiques this time though. That's good though - I like any kinds of reviews! A lot of people said that the last chapter didn't really sound like Temperance. I realized that too, but you have to understand that it's 2 years later, she's in a new enviornment, with new friends, and she has just changed a lot. You can't expect someone to beexactly thesame person they were two years ago, it's just not possible, so I kind of did it on purpose:) As you will see, Booth has even changed some in this chapter... Ok, I also just want to tell you guys that I won't be updating at all this weekend because I'm going to my dad's, and he doesn't have a computer. So I left you with a long one to ponder... Sorry for any typo's! I seem to type this story in a blind rage. haha.
PS. Also, I did as someone suggested, and changed it so that anonymoususers can review as well! I didn't even realize I had it set like that! Thanks for telling me! Now everyone can review!
The laughing and crying continues for the rest of the night, as the two celebrate this new joy in life, with champagne – and lots of it. Temperance calls all of her local friends, and breaks the news to them, about how excited she is that she's found such a wonderful man to be with. She feels like it's the happiest day of her life, and it should be, right? But why, later on that night, does a sudden pang of anger and sadness overwhelm her, when she and Chad are making love, and right before she reaches ecstasy, a picture of Booth flashes through her mind…
At just the same time, on just the same day, 2000 miles across the country, Angela walked up a gave Booth a hug.
"Happy Birthday sweetie," she said to him, giving him a pat on the back, along with the hug.
"Thanks Ange," he replied back smiling. "I feel like I'm getting so old."
"Well honey, we all are," Angela said back to him feeling bad at the obvious depressed state that seemed to hang over Booth. "So, are you and Olivia going to do anything tonight," she asked curiously.
"No, she has to work. You know her, always business before pleasure," he added.
"Well that sucks," she commented back to him.
"Yep," Booth said slowly walking away and retreating down the stairs.
Three days after getting engaged, Temperance sat playing with the ring on her finger, sitting in the comfortable chair in first class. She was ecstatic. She found a man who she truly cared about, and now she was going back to the Jeffersonian to visit all her friends! No one knew about it, not even Goodman, so it would definitely come as a big surprise to all of them. She couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when she showed up, completely unexpected.
"We're getting ready to land momentarily," the flight attendant announced, shaking Temperance out of her little coma. "Please fasten your seatbelts." Temperance did so, and grabbed the arms of her chair as well. She had never told anybody before, but she really hated flying.
When the plane landed, Temperance slowly pushed her way through the crowd of people gathering with their loved ones, or business partners, and made her way to the luggage claim belt. When she saw her bag go by, she grabbed it, and headed out the door to call a taxi.
She had the taxi take her to a hotel nearby, where she got a room for 10 nights. She couldn't believe that her boss was letting her stay this long. Three of the days had to be used for business, she had some papers that needed to be signed, and some ends to be tied up while she was here in DC, but the other 7 days were strictly for vacation, or what Temperance could imagine was vacation, seeing as she had never really had one before. All she wanted to do was hang out with Angela, and get to know the new employees working at the Jeffersonian. She also of course wanted to catch up with Zach and Hodgins, she hadn't talked to them in ages! As well as… Booth. She didn't know what to think about seeing Booth again for the first time in 2 years. The way she left had been so dramatic, and she knew that it had caused some serious damage to their friendship. Over the course of the two years she had been away, she had written Booth 4 letters – 2 each year, and all had gone unanswered. She recalled the last letter she had written him…
Seeley-How are you? It's getting me really worried that I haven't heard
back from you yet. Three letters and nothing…maybe they just
got lost, but they were never returned to my address. I feel so bad
about the way things ended between us. I never wanted to hurt you,
or make you feel bad. You know that, right? I've been thinking a lot about
when we "got together". Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, because I feel
like you resented me afterwards. Anyway, I hope things are going well for you.
Everything is still fine out here. Say hi to Parker for me. Take care.
Love, Temperance
It mad her sad that their friendship had pretty much dwindled down to nothing since she had left. They hadn't spoken one word to each other after the hateful good byes.
After unpacking, and changing into a better outfit –which consisted of blue jean capri's, and a turquoise tank top, she grabbed the keys to the car she was renting, and headed over to the Jeffersonian. She pulled into a parking spot, and just sat there looking for at least 5 minutes. After two years, nothing had changed about this place. It still looked exactly the same. It still had the same goofy banners hanging off the sides, and it still had the same old wooden benches – except that they were very worn out now. She got out of her car, and walked to the door. On her way to the door though, she couldn't help but stop when she thought she passed Booth's SUV. Yep, it was definitely his. Same interior, same stupid air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror, that smelled like pine trees.
She walked into the building, and with a couple of awkward glances from people passing, made her way towards Goodman's office.
"Hello," Temperance said sticking her head around the corner of his office door, after his secretary had told her to go right in.
"Well oh my god," Goodman said, clearly shocked to see her. "If it isn't Temperance Brennan!"
"Hi," Temperance said to him, giving him a warm smile. "How are you?"
"I'm very well, thank you for asking," he commented back. He stood there literally in awe that she was actually there. "To tell you the truth," he said, "I never expected to see you again."
"What!" Temperance exclaimed. "I told you I'd be back! I would never break a promise, and you know that."
"Well yes, I guess that is true," he said. "So what are you doing here Temperance?"
"Well I have some business to do while I'm here in DC, but I'm mainly here for vacation," she stated.
"You, vacation. Really?" He asked her. "I never would have thought!" he laughed.
"I know," Temperance chimed in. "Things really change don't they."
"Yes they certainly do," he added for good measure. "Well I'm sure you want to go visit your friends, so I won't keep you all to myself."
"Ok," Brennan added laughing. "I'll drop by again later, if it's all right with you," she asked him.
"Well I'd be honored," he said. "And Temperance," he added as she started out the door, "it really is great to see you again."
"It's good to see you too," she said back with a smile, and walked out.
Brennan headed to the area where her former lab used to be, and smiled and waved at all the people she knew, who still looked exactly the same. She even stopped to talk to some of them, congratulating them on a new baby, or an exciting new adventure in life. She loved these people. This had been her home for so long… it still felt like her home. She was so at peace here.
As she approached her old office, she could see a group of about seven or eight people sitting together, laughing and talking, including Angela, Hodgins, Zach, and Booth. She wasn't sure she wanted to interrupt, but then decided that they might be talking for a while, so she might as well just go in now. With every step closer she took, the butterflies in her stomach seemed to triple. Why was she so nervous? She knew these people, well most of them anyway. And she loved these people, and they loved her, well, some of them loved her, she wasn't to sure about others. She appeared at the door and gave a small tap.
"Knock, knock," she said while placing her hand on the doorframe.
"AHHHHHH!" screamed Angela out of pure excitement. "Temperance!" she screamed as well. The two sort of ran/stumbled towards each other and were locked in a tight embrace immediately.
It felt so good to finally be hugging her best friend again, was all Temperance could think at the moment. Hell, it felt good to even SEE her again! She was so excited, she couldn't even speak when Zach and Hodgins came right up to her as well, and immediately flooded her with questions about how she was, how her work was, and had she dealt with any good set of bones lately, because the ones they had worked with had been "shit" according to Jack.
When the hugging was over, Angela linked arms with her friend and started to introduce Brennan to everyone around the room.
"Ok, so Bren, this is Celia," Angela explained, pointing to the blond haired girl sitting on the couch. "She's a grad student, who's doing an internship here. We love her," Angela added, making the girl laugh a little. Temperance shook hands with her, and started to say something to her, but was quickly jerked the other way by Angela, who was already ready to move on to the next person in the room.
She was introduced to Brad, John, Julie, and Frankie, who was the new head of the Forensic Anthropology team. Temperance sized up the woman who had taken her position when she left, and settled on the feeling that she was a very good lady.
"And of course, you know Booth," Angela added pointing towards Booth, not really realizing what was going through both of their heads at that moment.
"Hello Seeley," Temperance said almost shyly, but with an air of confidence in her voice, trying to mask the real pain she felt of seeing him again. It made so many emotions come back that she hadn't felt since the last time she had seen him.
"Hello Temperance," Booth said back to her coolly, trying to keep calm, even though the second he saw her, his resting heart rate shot from about 70 to 120. Those were the only words they exchanged in the office, in the presence of the others, for they were both afraid of what might come out of their mouths if they were to say anything else.
About twenty minutes into the conversation, Booth announced that he had to get going, but that he'd be back later on in the day. Temperance reacted quickly and told Angela that she'd be back in a minute, because she had to go to the bathroom.
Running down the stairs after him, calling his name she said "Booth, wait up. Please Booth, I just want to talk to you."
"Yes Temperance, may I be of service to you," he said sarcastically, turning around.
"You don't have to be so rude, Booth," she shot back. "I just want to talk."
"Ok, Temperance what do you need, because I really do have to go."
"I just want to know how you are," she said to him, feeling sad about the way he was treating her. "I haven't seen you in two years, is it so wrong for me to want to talk to you?"
"Look I'm sorry, I just don't really have time right now," Booth said, all the sudden glancing down at her left hand, which appeared to have a sizeable ring on it. Temperance noticed where he was looking, and quickly put her hand behind her back. She cursed herself mentally for not taking it off like she had planned to. She didn't want this trip to be about her getting engaged, she wanted it to be about visiting old friends.
"Well then can we talk some other time?" she asked him.
"I don't know Bones," he said. "I'm busy tonight, but I'll see if I can do something tomorrow."
"Ok thanks," she said starting to smile a bit.
"I'm not promising anything," he added again.
"I know, but a maybe is good enough right now," she told him.
Later on that night, Temperance lay on her bed reading a book. The phone in her hotel room started to ring, and she picked it up on the 4th ring.
"Hello?" she stated.
"Hey Bones!" Booth half yelled.
"Booth?" Temperance asked back, wondering why he was yelling.
"Yeah, it's me," he said back. "Listen some things changed, and I'm free tonight. I'm at Wong Fu's if you want to stop by," he said waiting for a reply.
"I'll be there in 30 minutes," she said back, feeling like she herself was starting to scream into the phone.
"Ok," was all Booth said before he hung up.
"Ok," Temperance said into the dead phone line. She quickly took a shower, because she thought she looked horrible. She put on a plain blue t-shirt and a pair of shorts, because it was stifling hot outside. She pulled her wet hair up into a ponytail on her head, quickly applied some make up, and was out the door in 20 minutes, on her way to the eatery.
Upon arriving, she scanned the restaurant, but saw no sign of Booth.
"Hey," he said walking up behind her.
"Hey," she smiled back at him. He put his hand on the small of her back, and led her to the table that he had already acquired. He had ordered her a beer, and she greatly accepted it, thinking that alcohol might take the edge off her nerves.
"So, why did you want to talk to me so badly," Booth asked her quizzically.
"I don't know," she sort of mumbled. "It's just been awhile, that's all."
"Yeah," Booth added, not wanting to get into anything to serious. "So how is work, is it fun in California?"
"Booth," she said seriously.
"What, I can't ask about work now? I thought we were friends Bones? Does all the change now that you live in California?" he asked. The alcohol that he had consumed before she got there was obviously starting to affect him.
"Look Booth, I really think we need to talk about what happened before I left," she said.
"What?" he said back to her. "I don't remember anything happening," he added. "Oh, other than us having sex, and then you deciding to leave without telling me. But that was not big deal," he said shrugging it off.
"What do you mean, I decided to leave without telling you?" she asked him. "I tried to talk about it, but you didn't want to hear what I had to say," she shot back defensively.
"Look Bones," he said obviously buzzed, "I don't want to fight with you, OK. I have a massive head ache right now."
"Well then why the hell did you invite me here?" she asked him. "You knew we would just get into it."
"Well if I recall, you wanted to talk to me, so…"
"Ok, well since you obviously don't want to talk, I think I'll just go," she spat back at him.
"Fine," he said angrily, starting to get up, but causing great commotion when he spilled his drink all over her.
"Listen," the bar manager said coming over to them, "Ma'am, I think you should take your boyfriend home now."
"He's not my boy…" she started to say, but was interrupted by Booth saying, "I'll go home when I want to go home, OK!"
"Ok, Booth, lets go," she said walking behind him, and pushing him towards the door. Luckily for her, he didn't put up any resistance. When she got him in her car, she started to drive towards his apartment, but he stopped her, saying, "I don't live there anymore."
He told her the way to his new house, which he had purchased about a year ago. On the way, she saw a coffee stand, and decided to stop and get some for the both of them, hoping that it would at least start to help him cope with the major hang over she was sure he was going to have.
When she pulled up into his drive way, she thought about just letting him get out and leaving him there alone, but then deciding against it, knowing that if she were in the same situation, she would want someone there.
She unlocked his door after trying to bribe the keys out of him for two damn minutes. She opened the door and flicked on the light switch, to reveal the living room, mainly clean, but with a few action figures lying on the floor, which she assumed were Parker's. She grabbed his arm and led him to the couch were he flopped down and immediately started groaning about how much his head hurt. She looked in his bathroom, and found him some Advil, and a glass of water. He gratefully accepted them.
She sat down across from him on a chair, not knowing what to do now. There were so many things running through her head, so many things that she wanted to say to him. There was even a thought running through her head that she wanted to run up to him and start hitting him, telling him how crazy he was driving her. But she just sat there. All night long, even when he passed out, and was sleeping for eight hours, she just sat there. Of course she dozed a little bit too, but mostly she just sat looking at him, thinking. Thinking about how much she cared about him, about how much she hated him. About how much that one night had meant to her, about how she'd give anything to take that night back, because it had caused so much damage. She didn't know if she'd ever thought this much in her life.
When he awoke around 10:00 the next morning, there she was, sitting there. She looked like shit. She had big circles under her eyes, and he could tell that she even had been crying a little bit. But she didn't look like she had moved at all in the past twelve hours.
"Uhh," Booth said, kind of groaning and stretching at the same time. He fully did not expect to see her there when he woke up. "Bones, what are you still doing here," he asked her, rubbing his eyes.
"I didn't want to leave," she said. "In case you needed something," she added.
"You shouldn't have stayed," he told her. "You didn't need to stay," he tried to put more nicely, realizing he sounded like a jerk.
"It's OK," she said. "Besides, I drove you home, so your car isn't here," she commented. "I'll drive you back to get it when you're ready."
"Thanks," he added, not looking directly at her. He had probably made such an ass of himself last night. Man, why couldn't he just act normal around her? Probably because the shock of seeing her was still dawning on him.
"I'll make something for breakfast, if you're hungry," he told her, looking into her sad eyes.
"Booth, why didn't you write me back?" she asked.
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