AN: I contrite for taking so long! Life gets seriously hectic for me in the last two months of every year. I was hoping to finish the chapter and post before the end of 2018, unfortunately, I got sick and that derailed my plans. I'm so excited to be moving closer to getting them together! Please leave reviews (lots of them) and be patient as I have not yet started the next chapter...currently rewatching all those episodes to get my creativity sparked and going!
TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
BONES
Season 6, Episode 17: The Feet on the Beach
He looked over at his partner, noting the flushed cheeks and bright eyes, his own twinkling as his smile filled with tenderness, "You really enjoyed yourself out on that body farm, didn't you?"
Bones' lips pulled into a smile so bright, Booth had to look away to be able to concentrate on the road ahead of them, "It's fascinating how much one can learn from simply observing. Did you know there are only six body farms total in the entire United States?"
"I did not know that," Booth grinned as he looked sideways at her, "I'll tell you, though, it wasn't like any field trip I've ever had before."
The husky sound of her laughter made his heart beat faster as he took the exit that would lead them to the main highway straight to DC. Once the arresting officers had shown up at the Hogansburg University to arrest Norman Hayes, he'd rushed Bones out of there as fast as possible, wanting to get away from the stench and downright disgusting sight of decomposing bodies.
"I know it wasn't exactly the most pleasant experience for you, Booth –"
"Are you kidding me," he looked over at her, reaching out to take her small hand in his much larger one, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze, "I enjoyed watching the way your face lit up –especially with the exploding guts…I could have done without the smell, though."
She smirked at the look of disgust on his face, her blue eyes dropping to their clasped hands resting on her thigh. Nibbling on the corner of her mouth, she flexed her fingers until they slid between his, smiling at the way their hands fit perfectly together.
Booth couldn't keep the smile from spreading across his face as he drove one handed, keeping his eyes on the road in an effort not to make Bones feel self-conscious and possibly pull away from him.
The long road-trip was filled with easy conversation flowing from one topic to another and, at times, comfortable silence stretching in between, all the while their hands staying connected and resting on her lap, his thumb occasionally brushing the inside of her wrist.
As they approached downtown DC, he looked over at the time to see it was approaching six in the evening. He looked over at Bones, smiling as he felt her thumb gently rubbing his knuckles, "Want to go get a drink at the Founding Fathers?"
She gave him a soft smile, "Yes, but I need to stop at the lab first."
"Alright," he tapped his thumb against the heel of her hand, his smile turning into a grin when she reciprocated, "I'll meet you there in an hour?"
"Yes."
Booth laughed as he looked over at Bones sitting catty-corner to him at the bar, "Sweets did what?"
"He threw a small bowl at him," Brennan tipped back her beer, grinning as Booth laughed out loud, "Apparently, Sweets thought Dr. Filmore would automatically catch the bowl, thus discovering his arm was once again functional. However, the bowl hit Dr. Filmore right in the forehead, although he did realize his arm was in working order when he rubbed it."
Booth shook his head, his eyes twinkling as he took a sip of his beer, looking over at Bones as she herself took a sip of her own beer, "I'm glad that you apologized to the Canadian," he tipped his beer at his partner, his mouth tilted into a side smile, "I'm proud of you, Bones."
She set her beer down as she looked over at him, "I didn't apologize."
"I thought…"
"The word apology derives from the Ancient Greek apologia, which means "a speech in defense." When I defended what I said to him, you told me that wasn't a real apology."
Pursing his lips, he gave a small nod before looking into her blue eyes, "Why don't you think of a word that means you feel bad for making someone else feel bad?"
Looking off into space for a second, she smiled as she looked back at Booth, "Contrite."
"Ah!"
"From the Latin contritus, meaning 'crushed by a sense of sin.'"
"There. That's it," he nodded as he tapped his finger on the bar's surface, "Contrite. Okay, I'm happy that you contrited to the Canadian."
"Would you like to hear some more things that I feel contrite about?"
Quirking an eyebrow, he gave her a look of hesitation, "There's more?"
"Yes," she nodded, "I feel contrite that I think your socks are silly."
"What," the surprise on his face was evident but she kept going, "Also, I am contrite that I think you are foolhardy in the way you approach your cup of coffee."
Lowering his brows in confusion, he couldn't help but ask, "How do I approach a cup of coffee?"
She gave him a look of incredulity as she explained, "You drink it without checking the temperature, and then you complain all day that your tongue is burned."
He flattened his lips, doing his best not to laugh at the look of utter exasperation on her beautiful face as she continued, "I feel contrite that I…I think that's stupid."
Watching her take a drink of her beer, he couldn't help but tease her as he kept his voice low and serious, "Let's recap, okay. Foolhardy and stupid."
She gave him a look of contrition as she let out a soft breath, "There's more."
Deciding to stop her now before something was said that couldn't be taken back, he kept himself from laughing as he shook his head, "Bones, you don't have to apologize for things that you think."
"Oh!"
"Believe me, if we had to be sorry for every, single thought…"
She tilted her head to the side, "Like what?"
Shaking his head, he swallowed back the chuckle threatening to escape, "Uh, believe me, I'm not gonna fall down that path. You know, I might say something I'm gonna regret later. No way."
A smile blossomed across her face as she pointed at him, "Regret. The word regret derives from the old French regreter –"
"Enough with the vocabulary lesson," he interrupted her, tipping his beer bottle back and finishing the last of the yeasty liquid, "Let's talk about something else."
"I do have a question," she fiddled with the label of her beer bottle, taking in a deep breath as he quirked an eyebrow at her, "Earlier, when I asked why it was important to you for me to apologize to Dr. Filmore, you said you knew what kind of person I am and that I should let other people in on the secret."
"Amazing," his mouth tilted into a side smile, "You remembered that word for word."
"Of course."
"So what's your question?"
Looking into his chocolate brown eyes, she bit her lip, a little shy for wanting to ask but her desire to know overwrote her reticence, "What kind of person do you think I am?"
"I don't think, Bones," he reached out to place his hand over hers, which was resting on the surface of the bar, "I know the kind of person you are."
"And what kind of person is that?"
Wrapping his calloused fingers around her soft delicate ones, he slowly drew circles in the center of her palm with his thumb, "The kind of person with a tender and generous heart, so much so you've had to learn to protect it from a world that is cruel and uncaring. The kind of person who can't understand subterfuge and lies because you have a such a beautiful and innocent soul. The kind of person who doesn't know how to hold back because you're so full of passion and conviction, knowing what you want and going after it without hesitation."
She blinked back the tears forming at his beautiful words, unconsciously leaning in closer to him, "That's how you see me?"
Keeping her small hand in his larger one, he lifted it up to his lips as he leaned in closer to her, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles, "Since the moment I laid eyes on you."
She sucked in a breath, her pupils widening as the space between them lessened with every passing second.
"There you are!"
Booth let out a low groan as Bones pulled back, slipping her hand free of his as Chris and Laura came up to them, hands linked between them, "You are seriously getting on my nerves."
Laura gave Booth an apologetic look as Chris chuckled in amusement, "Sorry, we had to find you. We went over to the Jeffersonian and some kid in a suit told us you were probably here, celebrating another case solved."
"That would have been Sweets," Booth said with a laugh as he pushed his bottle aside, "What's so important you went hunting for us?"
Chris and Laura looked at each other, besotted smiles on their faces before they turned back to Booth and Brennan as Chris held up their linked hands, the hanging lights over the bar reflecting off the diamond ring on Laura's left hand, "We're getting married!"
Bones let out a squeal that took Booth by surprise, his eyes wide as he watched her jump off her stool and hug Laura then Chris, his mouth stretching into a grin, "Congratulations, you two."
Laura giggled as Chris let go of his hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders, "Thank you. We were too excited to wait until tomorrow, which is why we went looking for you."
"I'm so glad you did," Bones stepped back, giving Chris a wide smile that was returned, "I'm so happy for you, Chris."
Looking into Laura's bright green eyes, he couldn't help himself as he dropped a kiss on her smiling lips before looking back at Brennan, "Thanks, Temperance. Life is too short not to take risks, so I decided to ask her even though I wasn't sure she'd say yes."
"Considering how much I love you, I really couldn't have said anything but yes," Laura teased him, giving his side a gentle poke before turning back to Booth and Brennan, "We are planning on going dancing to celebrate. Would you like to join us?"
Booth looked over at Bones, quirking an eyebrow, his eyes twinkling as she widened hers in response, her full lips tilting into that soft smile he thought of as his. Pulling out his wallet, he paid for their beers and left a hefty tip as they both stood, his eyes swinging over to Chris and Laura, "We would love to celebrate with you."
The music was slow, the saxophone wailing away as couples danced on the wooden dance floor, the rose-tinted lighting low and helping with the romantic atmosphere of the little jazz club they had found.
Booth held Bones close to his body as they both moved to the flow of the music. He breathed in the scent of her hair, turning his head to rest his nose on the crown of her head as she kept her head on his right shoulder, arm looped around his neck, the other tucked between them as he held her hand against his fast beating heart.
Dancing with her in his arms, something he'd only done once before, was by far the best Booth had ever experienced. Not to be cliched or anything, but he knew he would die a happy man right now. As the song segued into another bluesy slow song, he thought back to the past few months, her soft hair brushing against his growing smile as he realized they were slowly moving towards the center of them.
He knew they would one day happen, but this time around, he refused to rush it…to rush her. He had been so stupid, pushing her when she hadn't been ready, then running off like some sulking little boy to the other side of the world because he didn't get what he wanted. There was no excuse except for his inability to find his footing around his Bones once he'd put himself out there for her and gotten rejected.
He'd been rejected before, what guy hadn't, but he'd never been close friends with a woman he had feelings for, so it hadn't been easy to continue working with Bones and dealing with the aftermath of his stupidity.
Of course, he had to go and make the whole situation worse with Hannah. Now that he'd gotten past most of his anger -at himself, at life, at Sweets, at Hannah -he'd realized Hannah had merely been a side trip in his journey to a forever love. He had let himself be influenced by Sweets, again, and had rushed to make things go his way…again. He was glad, now, Hannah had said no. He couldn't help but feel guilty at the thought perhaps she'd known the truth behind his proposal…he had seen her as his last-ditch effort at achieving his dream of getting married…
Now, though…now that he was so close to getting to have a future with the woman who owned his heart, he knew he had to give up that dream, because she was more than vocal about her stance on marriage.
In the long run, though, he knew giving up that dream for a reality with his Bones would be so much more worth it…
