"I Missed You"—Chapter 4
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own these wonderful characters.
Author's notes: Sorry it's taken so long to problems, real life and work got in the way of my fanfic writing. Thanks for reading and for all of the nice reviews. Enjoy! I will attempt to have Chapter 5 up by tomorrow, which is all Booth!
Angela and Brennan were seated at a small table in a café just a few blocks from the Jeffersonian. Angela had managed to convince her best friend to take a break from the lab and go to lunch, with a side dish of girl talk.
Her dark eyes watched as Brennan took the last bite of the large chef salad she'd ordered. "That's the most I've seen you eat in quite awhile sweetie. What's with the voracious appetite all of sudden?" She smiled slyly, attempting to bait Brennan into giving her details about last night's event.
Brennan continued to chew her last bite of food, contemplating just how much she wanted to tell her overzealous friend. "Well, I didn't get a chance to eat after I picked up Booth at the restaurant…"
Angela smirked slightly as she sipped her iced tea.
"What?" Brennan questioned as confusion creased her brow.
"You 'picked up' Booth," Angela chuckled. She noticed that Brennan's confused look had not changed. "Never mind sweetie. Now, do you wanna tell me what happened…I mean, I know I pretty much guessed what happened, but details would be nice."
Brennan took a sip of her water and eyed her friend carefully. Angela was leaning forward, twirling a piece of her long dark hair around her right index finger with an eager, exuberant look on her pretty face.
Brennan sighed heavily and placed her glass of water on the table. "I want to preface the details of last night's happening by saying it didn't mean anything."
Angela sat up straight in her chair, her dark eyes wide. "It? Wait, I didn't guess it!"
"Not that!" Brennan rubbed her temples, exasperated. "Booth told me that he had missed me and then he…well, he…kissed me."
It took every ounce of Angela's strength to squelch the squeal of excitement she felt bubbling inside of her. "So, how was the kiss?"
"Ange!"
"Come on, on a scale of one to ten, with ten being mind blowing, how was it?"
"I am not answering that question!" Brennan sat back, crossed her arms across her chest and glared at the deliriously happy woman sitting across from her.
"It was mind blowing, wasn't it? I knew it! Booth's just got those kind of full, soft lips…"
"Are you done?" Brennan asked as she tried to force out the thoughts of how soft and full Booth's lips had indeed felt on hers.
Angela continued to stare off dreamily into the distance. "Give me just a moment…"
Brennan rolled her eyes as she admonished her friend. "Angela!"
She chuckled at Brennan's outburst. "Okay, okay. But Bren, if, as you said, it meant nothing, then why are you so out of sorts about it?"
Brennan paused for a moment. "Angela, you know why. Booth and I are partners…work partners. And we're friends, that's all. You and I both know that any sort of relationship outside of work or friendship would place all of the work…very important work, I might add…that we do in jeopardy. It's just not feasible for us to be any more than friends."
Angela stared at her very logical, very obstinate and very stupid friend for a long moment. "Are you done?"
"For the moment," Brennan responded as she took another sip of water.
"Okay, I have heard this 'it-would-be-bad-for-the-partnership-the-work-would-suffer' speech too many times to count. You really need to come up with some better reasons honey 'cause that one is getting old." Angela sat back in her chair watching as Brennan tucked a lock of her auburn hair behind her ear, refusing to look at her. She leaned forward once again and covered Brennan's hands with her own.
"I'm sorry sweetie. That sounded harsher than I intended it to." Angela sighed loudly. "I understand that your work is important to you and you don't want to jeopardize that…really, I do get that. But Bren…."
Brennan moved her hands away from Angela's, her face expressionless. "I shouldn't have mentioned this Angela. Booth was extremely intoxicated and he most likely will not recall what happened. So really, there is no reason for me to be 'out of sorts' as you put it."
"Brennan, you have a right to feel whatever it is you're feeling. You're confused by what happened, right?" Brennan nodded slowly, not liking the psychological turn of the conversation. Angela pressed on before Brennan said anything. "Well, I'm not. You and Booth have had this extraordinary chemistry since the day he walked into the lab. We all knew it would just be a matter of time…"
"We?" Now Brennan did not like the choice of pronoun that Angela had used.
"Well…uh…yeah, we." Angela blushed slightly. "It's not like Hodgins, Zach and I just stand around all day discussing you and Booth, but it's been mentioned."
Just when Brennan thought her headache had dissipated, the pounding ache came back full force. "Oh, god…"
"Look, sweetie, you need to decide if you're going to discuss this with Booth or if you're just going to let it go. And Bren, I know you, you won't be able to let it go. You'll question it just like you do all of the pop culture references Booth throws at you. I vote that you talk to him."
"Angela, my life is not a democracy and therefore, you do not get to vote as to what I will or will not do." Brennan smiled slightly. "With that being said, you're right."
"Of course I am!" Angela sat back in her chair once again, beaming proudly. "Now, on a scale of one to ten…"
Brennan's smile grew wider as she leaned forward across the table. Angela quickly mimicked her movement, waiting for the moment of truth.
"Angela, who the hell is Batman?"
The dark haired woman's smile faded quickly as she sat back in her chair. "Why did I even mention Batman? I knew you were going to question that reference sooner or later," she replied grumpily.
"Well, you did say that I can't let things like that go…" Brennan replied with a chuckle.
Angela rolled her dark eyes toward the ceiling. "Why do I always have to be right?"